Damn good post. As a society we are pacified with entertainment, while the powers that be literally get away with murder. We beg for more government, more entertainment, more distractions. We avert our eyes from things that cause us to question the accepted "majority view" of things.
It's that majority "group think" mentality that actually works against us all. If we had no political party to blanket our views within, perhaps the issues would matter. Those parties are subject to corruption from corporations, religious influence, personal gain, and quite simply put, lust for power. The individual that governs himself is free to make voluntary contracts with other individuals that are free. The moment they try to usurp power from those that haven't entered a contract freely, they are inflicting their idea, not persuading people to truly get behind it.
We as people long for groups to identify with. Few of us are comfortable being loners. From my perspective, the two parties provide an identity for people that struggle for acceptance in other areas as well. I know of people, teenagers especially, who feel that they lack an identity, so they jump on the Democratic party bus. There is an identity for anyone on that bus, as long as you toe the line.