Voting without jerseys
Politics isn’t supposed to be a sport — yet we treat it like one. The Unparty explores what happens when voters stop playing teams and start voting for ideas.
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America loves a team. Red vs. Blue. Coke vs. Pepsi. Apple vs. Android. Somewhere along the way, we let politics join the same game — and forgot that governing isn’t supposed to be a sport.
The truth is, party loyalty has become the political equivalent of brand loyalty. We buy the same label every election because we recognize the logo, not because we checked the ingredients.
But what if we didn’t?
What if we voted like adults — comparing facts instead of jerseys, policies instead of promises? That’s what this thought experiment is about.
The Problem with Teams
Parties make politics easy to digest. They tell you who to cheer for, who to hate, and which headlines to repost. The problem is that shortcuts in thinking become shortcuts in democracy.
When you outsource your opinions to a party, you stop asking hard questions. You stop noticing when both sides quietly agree to things like unlimited corporate donations or untraceable data collection. You stop realizing that most voters — left, right, and center — actually agree on a surprising number of issues.
Parties thrive on outrage because outrage keeps you subscribed.
The Case for Going Unaffiliated
Voting without a party doesn’t mean you’re neutral. It means you’re free.
Free to support a policy that makes sense even if it comes from “the other side.”
Free to reject candidates who weaponize division instead of solving problems.
Free to change your mind when the facts change.
Nearly 40% of Americans now identify as independents — the largest voting bloc in the country. Yet the political system still treats independents like weird uncles at Thanksgiving: tolerated, but never really invited to the table.
That needs to change.
Data Over Drama
Here’s the data we rarely hear:
A Pew study shows most voters hold a mix of conservative and liberal views.
Local elections — often nonpartisan — have the highest correlation with citizen satisfaction.
States with open primaries report higher voter turnout and less negative campaigning.
In other words: the more freedom voters have from the party machine, the better the results.
The Goal
The goal isn’t about abolishing Democrats or Republicans. It’s about shrinking their monopoly on our attention.
A Modest Proposal
Next election, try this: before marking your ballot, cover up the party names. Ask yourself which candidate you’d choose if you didn’t know their color.
That simple exercise might be the most radical act of patriotism left.
Welcome to The Unparty. Let’s see what happens when we stop playing teams and start voting for ideas.
Replacing Elections with Drafted Representation
Tired of campaign texts and career politicians? Imagine Congress filled by lottery balls instead of billion-dollar campaigns. What if democracy was drafted — literally?
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Imagine this: no more political texts begging you for $25, no more yard signs littering your neighborhood, no more campaign ads that somehow make you hate both candidates equally. Instead, one day you open your mailbox and — surprise — you’ve been drafted to Congress.
Yes, drafted. Like jury duty, but with better snacks.
Why We’d Do It
Elections sound noble, but let’s be honest: they’re expensive popularity contests. Money buys megaphones, lobbyists buy access, and regular people get stuck with a government made up of career politicians who’ve mastered fundraising but long forgotten what it’s like to live on a normal paycheck.
In fact:
Congressional approval hovers around 20%, while incumbents still win reelection more than 90% of the time.
The average member of Congress makes $174,000 a year. The median American household income is about $83,700. That’s a pretty big gap.
Roughly 85% of Americans say politicians don’t care about people like them.
Only 22% of Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time.
So if government feels out of touch, it’s because it is.
The Draft System
Here’s the pitch: every year, Americans are randomly selected to serve in Congress for a limited term, like jury duty.
What you get if you’re drafted:
Competitive salary while serving (yes, you get the $250k).
Job protection when you return home.
Perks with staying power: tuition assistance, loan forgiveness, maybe even alumni benefits.
Support services: relocation, child care, elder care. No one should have to choose between serving and caring for family.
One term and you’re out. No campaigns, no dynasties, no lifers. Just a rotating cast of teachers, truck drivers, coders, nurses, ranchers, and retirees, all thrown together to hash out the laws of the land.
The Problems This Solves
Insider Trading: No more lifers quietly padding their portfolios. Short terms mean little time to game the system.
Lobbyists: Try cozying up to someone who’s back at their day job next year. Good luck.
Campaign Cash: If nobody runs for office, there’s nothing to fundraise for.
Representation Gap: Congress finally looks like America, not just America’s donor class.
Why This Isn’t Crazy
Ancient Athens used sortition (random selection) to fill many public offices. Modern “citizens’ assemblies” in places like Ireland and Canada have proven that everyday people can debate complex issues and shape real policy.
And remember: most elected officials already lean heavily on staffers. You think Senator Smith personally wrote that 800-page bill? Please.
The Benefits
Real Representation: A Congress that mirrors the demographics and financial realities of the nation.
Fresh Ideas: Everyday logic from everyday people.
Lobbyist Headaches: Influence networks crumble when the faces change every year.
National Pride: Serving becomes a civic badge of honor — not a punchline.
The Flaws (Yes, There Are Flaws)
Not everyone will want to serve. Some people will dread it, just like jury duty.
Not everyone will be good at it. But let’s be honest: that’s already the case.
Continuity could suffer. But career civil servants and staffers keep the machine running.
Training is needed. You wouldn’t throw a random group into open-heart surgery; there would need to be crash courses in lawmaking, governance, and ethics.
It’s not perfect. But it’s a big step closer to true representation than the system we’ve got.
A Different Kind of Government
Picture it: a single mom from Iowa sits next to a rancher from Texas, debating healthcare with a coder from Seattle and a nurse from Alabama. That’s not chaos — that’s democracy.
Maybe the problem isn’t that Americans don’t care. Maybe it’s that we’ve handed government over to professionals and told ourselves we’re too ordinary to matter. What if the opposite is true?
Maybe democracy doesn’t need more politicians. Maybe it just needs us.
The Property Tax Paradox: Why Your House Gained Value While You Slept
Your property taxes went up—but your house didn’t change. Discover the absurd truth behind “comparables” and the simple fix that could freeze the madness.
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Let us begin with an observation so obvious it becomes invisible: nothing about your house has changed—and yet it is somehow worth $100,000 more than last year.
The roof still leaks when it rains sideways. The fence still leans like a drunk uncle at a barbecue. And your neighbor still insists on parking his boat (on land!) directly across from your living room window. And yet, according to your friendly neighborhood tax assessor, you now live in Versailles.
This, dear reader, is the curious voodoo of comparables—a system where your tax bill is based not on your home, but on other people’s. Imagine if you were billed for dinner based on what the table next to you ordered. “Sorry sir, I see you had the soup and breadsticks, but someone nearby ordered the lobster tower and a bottle of 2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, so that’ll be $300.”
Welcome to the logic of property tax valuation in Texas.
Comparables: The Original Social Media Curse
The idea of using “comps” is one that appeals only to people who do not actually live in homes. It’s the same logic as Zillow, only weaponized by the state. You didn’t upgrade your kitchen? Doesn’t matter. Someone three blocks away did, and now you get to pay for it too. The system mistakes market heat for personal wealth, as though the rising tide that floats all boats also pays your mooring fees.
It’s behavioral madness: taxing people not on what they’ve done, but on what others have done around them. It's taxation by proximity.
The Lock-In Solution: Freezing the Madness
What if we took a cue from behavioral economics—and from, dare I say, common sense—and simply locked in your property tax value the day you buy the home?
This is not revolutionary. It is evolutionary. Your home’s tax valuation is set when you acquire it. It doesn’t budge—doesn’t twitch, flinch, or drift—until you sell it. At which point, a new owner takes on a new valuation, and the cycle continues. Value still rises, yes, but in digestible, psychologically sane chunks. Like stair-steps, not geysers.
This gives the homeowner certainty. Stability. And, crucially, decouples the value of your home from the frantic, casino-like froth of the local housing market.
Governments might grumble at first—fewer windfall gains for municipal coffers—but let’s be honest: the government's job isn’t to speculate on housing like a day trader. It’s to provide roads, schools, and stop signs that don’t spin in the wind.
But What About Equity? Efficiency? Modernity?
Ah yes, the dreaded technocrat's rebuttal. “But this system isn’t efficient!” they say.
To which I say: neither is childhood, marriage, or democracy—and yet we keep them around, because they serve a deeper human function. They recognize that people are not spreadsheets. That predictability beats theoretical fairness. That no one likes being punished for doing absolutely nothing.
Tax systems, like trousers, work better when they don’t ride up.
A Modest Proposal (Without the Cannibalism)
So here it is: freeze the tax valuation at point of sale. Let people budget. Let neighborhoods stabilize. Let the assessors assess new construction, not your 1970s ranch with the asbestos ceiling and commemorative popcorn ceiling texture.
Because the only thing worse than rising taxes is not knowing why they’re rising. And nothing, I mean nothing, undermines faith in public institutions faster than the creeping suspicion that you're being charged for your neighbor’s marble countertops.