I appreciate the re-read, I have a bad habit of not re-reading my own posts before I hit submit and I'm glad that you understand my point isn't just about politics.

First of all, I do vote, in every election I have legal right to, and I make a point to be an informed voter and choose my candidates maturely. That being said, I don't think it does a damn bit of good because so few people actually do these things, and it's impossible to convince large portions of the population to actually practice responsible voting. Changing peoples opinions is work and I agree, but I think that it's not actually possible to change people's opinions on issues that are being actively obscured and skewed by those who want to maintain the status quo.

With the whole example of sit-ins, a lot has changed in the past few decades about how protesting is charged, prosecuted and reported. If I and a group of like minded individuals, after trying all other forms of peaceful protest, stage a sit-in at an NSA facility (This is just one common, controversial example) we would be arrested on sight, charged with terrorism or some other catch-all offense, all press blocked from the facility or proceedings, or reporters would be 'discouraged' from reporting on it at all. And every bit of virtual dirty laundry that myself or any others in that group had would be hauled out of long term storage and aired to publicly shame us and change the issue into an Ad Hominem logical fallacy.

Edit, I also really don't want to spend my entire life working as a lobbyist or running a political action committee.