A few weeks ago, I listened to a neighbor say he’s “just done with politics.” He’s not apathetic—he’s angry. He works hard, loves his family, pays taxes, and tries to do right by his community. But when it comes to elections, he says it feels like he’s being forced to choose between a punch in the gut or a kick in the teeth.
He’s not alone.
Millions of Americans—Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or none of the above—feel the same way. They’ve sensed what many of us now know deep in our bones: the party system is rigged, not just against one group or the other, but against all of us. The parties exist to protect themselves, to hoard power, and to keep the rest of us fighting each other while they cash in.
It doesn’t matter what color the party banner is—red, blue, or rainbow glitter. They all run on the same fuel: fear, division, money, and manipulation.
The Democrats and Republicans pretend to be polar opposites, but watch how they vote when it’s time to send billions overseas or bail out corporations. Watch how they unite when it comes to insider perks, campaign cash, and protecting the swamp.
Even third parties often end up just being smaller clubs trying to play the same corrupt game.
Our Founders Warned Us
This isn’t some fringe idea. It’s what the men who built this country warned us about.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another… is itself a frightful despotism.”
— George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties… It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration.”
— John Adams
The Founders envisioned a government of citizens, not career politicians. Of servants, not celebrities. Our Congress wasn’t supposed to be filled with Ivy League lawyers and billionaire donors—it was supposed to look like the people it represented.
Today, it doesn’t. And that’s not an accident. The parties built it this way—on purpose.
This Isn’t a Call for Socialism
Let’s be clear: I’m not pushing socialism. That system is just as corrupt—maybe even more so—because it centralizes power in fewer hands, crushes individual freedom, and always leads to bureaucratic rot.
I’m calling for something much older and more American: the return of the citizen republic.
Imagine a government filled with teachers, nurses, mechanics, and farmers. Imagine school board members who actually have kids in public school. County commissioners who know the price of gas and groceries. Lawmakers who still work a shift or go to church with the people they serve.
That’s not idealism. That’s how America used to be.
Stop Waiting. Step Up.
Here’s the truth: no one’s coming to fix it for us. The political machines will never reform themselves. They’ll keep spitting out polished candidates, slick commercials, and empty slogans until we stop buying what they’re selling.
So stop buying.
Run for office. Local office. County office. State office. Don’t wait for a party to pick you. Don’t water yourself down for donors or toe the line for talking points. Just run—as yourself.
Vote for people, not parties. Forget what letter is next to their name. Ask: Do they tell the truth? Do they live like me? Do they answer their phone? Will they fight for us, not their party bosses?
If the answer’s yes, vote for them. If not, don’t.
A Final Call to the Forgotten Majority
There are more of us than them. More everyday people than insiders. More regular Americans than elite consultants, operatives, and lobbyists. But they win because we’ve been taught to fight each other, instead of fighting back.
Well, it’s time.
Burn the party system to the ground. Not with violence, but with courage. With truth. With independents. With people who’ve had enough of the lies, the rigging, and the rot.
We don’t need permission. We don’t need a party. We just need enough neighbors, teachers, welders, nurses, small business owners, and working parents to stand up and say:
“Enough. I’ll do it myself.”
This is still a republic. But only if we keep it.
“The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government… and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity and happiness require it.”
— Alexander Hamilton, 1775
Let’s get to work.
