About Us

I started exParty America because I saw my homeland slipping into chaos. America, a country whose ideals and values I adore, was looking less and less like “the dream” we all hope for. As I child I was taught, “by the people, for the people,” and “liberty and justice for all.” Partisan politics doesn’t care for those ideals, and they have convinced the people that the enemy isn’t manipulative party insiders but their own neighbors. If your neighbor doesn’t vote the same letter as you, they clearly are out to get you. If America is to endure and live up to her ideals, the people will need to leave the party. Democrats, Republicans, neither will make the America I heard of in my childhood. Only we can do that, together.

exParty America has the goal to bring a balanced voice to issues in a very polarizing environment. We try to tell the entire story and provide relevant data about issues our country faces. Avoiding a political narrative is paramount. We want to bring you what is true, even if it doesn’t match either side of the political divide or our personal biases.

I want exParty America to be unbiased for a few reasons. For one, it was very rare to find a source of news that addresses both sides of the issue. This is how it has always been, but in recent years increasing division has driven more radical beliefs. While it is easy to shout at those we disagree with, it is more valuable to find the validity in the things they believe. Only through understanding each other can we truly and sincerely make progress towards a country that can be filled with people who are different, but ultimately living together in harmony.

As I have watched party politics take more divisive and deceptive turns in recent years, I began to fear for the future of the country my children would grow up in. I wanted to try and heal the divide, and pull people away from the polarizing fanaticism that now represents mainstream political parties. I hope I can provide you valuable insights into things you may not have considered. And, in a spirit of unity, I hope I can learn from your experiences. We will never agree on everything; every person is different. But we all have to share this big rock together, and we can do it while respecting our differences.

Thank you for joining me, I hope what you find here will be valuable.

About the Author

“Change my mind.” You’ve likely seen the obnoxious meme of a guy, sitting at a table on a college campus, with a sign saying “[Provocative Political Statement], change my mind.” I always thought that was such an odd request. After all, what actually does change a person’s mind? In my experience a well written argument, concrete evidence, and creative or unique ideas all do little to change a mind that is already made up. I could think of only two methods that have a chance of actually changing someone’s mind. One would involve various forms of mental distress and torture (imagine using this method to change meme-guy’s mind. Haha). The other is a bit more ethical and legal. It involves building enough trust that your mind will at least consider what I am saying. Typically, when you trust someone and value them as a person, you are more likely to be open to their experiences. It might not change your mind, but at least you’ll think about it.

In the spirit of building trust with you, fellow internet citizen, I’d like to share some pertinent things about me. Perhaps it will help you see where I am coming from with my articles, and hopefully notice that really, I’m not that different from you.

• I grew up in a rural area outside of a college town. As I grew the fields around my house developed into suburbs.
• I am the oldest of 4 kids. My mom taught at a public school and my dad worked several jobs before buying a small apartment complex he managed for the last decade or so. I’d consider us upper middle class, but my family was fairly frugal.
• I have a masters degree in engineering.
• I’m married with two kids.
• I love learning about just about everything. I also am very efficiency minded. As such traffic lights especially and general road design infuriate me.
• Some things I enjoy include:
  • exploring someplace I haven’t been
  • watching an anthill or system run itself (seriously, several of my favorite video games involve me setting things up then watching them play themselves)
  • solving puzzles
  • military strategy
  • and of course, discussing political issues on the internet, the dumbest thing I think anyone could do.
• I enjoy learning about different cultures, especially their history. I realize everyone has a different background.
• I know religion is a bit taboo on the internet, but for full disclosure I was raised Christian and still attend. That said my belief about religion is different from when I was younger and continues to grow. I don’t believe anyone is any ‘less than,’ regardless of what their religion is or is not. I also believe government is for society, and government laws should not be based on any religion. Religions all have their rules, but those rules apply to the believers. Society should be governed by separate rules that respect everyone equally.
  
  Hopefully my faith won’t be an impasse between us, I will likely rarely reference anything about it in general articles. Also I hope it doesn’t tempt you to sweep away any decent arguments with “he only says that because he’s religious, the dumb ape.” I may be somewhat religious and I may be dumb, but tossing an idea in the bin due to biases about the author doesn’t actually make the idea any less valid. And it’s painfully lazy.

With all that said, thank you for joining me. If we end up with a community on here I hope to learn more about you as well. Thank you very much for participating.

I also apologize in advance if my posts don’t resonate with you, I do want them to be accurate but I may be trying to target a specific audience, and sometimes that requires using alternate vocabulary and examples.