Party is the madness of many, for the gain of a few

A letter from Alexander Pope to Edward Blount (27 August 1714).  A good reminder that the slavering bombast of partisan politics, combined always in an effort to stampede the electorate away from something fearful or towards something wonderful (and "free"), has always been with us since the beginning of the modern era.  

I find myself just in the same situation of mind you describe as your own, heartily wishing the good, that is the quiet of my country, and hoping a total end of all the unhappy divisions of mankind by party-spirit, which at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few.

Jonathan Swift in his Miscellanies (1727) similarly notes in "Thoughts on Various Subjects"

Party is the madness of many, for the gain of a few.

We complain about the uniparty and the Establishment Parties but it has always been thus.  If there is government (as there needs must) there are the grifters and barnacles as well, riding a storm of created passion in the absence of ability and clarity of thought.