I actually disagree with you a little bit there...
I don't think half the country sees things red and the other half blue.
I think that the vast majority of people sit in the middle and agree/disagree with various policies from both sides. Part of the problem, as I see it, is that the Republicans and Democrats are both terrible at governing, but very, very good at ganging up against anyone else and locking them out of the conversation. Ideally you'd have a number of political parties that all need to work together on individual policies to make them work. This two party system is just terrible. Way more competition in this space would help us all.
I do totally agree with you that most people are not free thinkers... but also, why should they be? Everyone has their own life with their own dramas. The whole reason we have elected officials is so that we don't have to worry about everything... I think it's hard for most people to pay attention to the government when they've got their own bills to pay... of course, the irony being that the bills might not be so nuts if they were more free-thinking.
I'm honestly not sure how the voluntary world would work.. who would look after the shared infrastructure?
I think DACs can help. See some links in my reply to the post above for more details.