I'm trying to think of changes in society that have succeeded. The anti-smoking campaign is one, and the anti-Union is another. Those were the results of the media unloosing an unending barrage of unfavorable publicity.

The Civil Rights people have done it, too. That's been done by brute force or the threat of it, by committed people. I can't think of another.

The anti-war protests of the Vietnam era caused some concern, didn't influence the outcome. At least I don't think so.

The Tea Party has managed to use leverage to block any meaningful changes which don't benefit the ultra-rich, and probably is the best current example. And they've blocked things by taking an extreme position and refusing to change.

The Civil Rights, Women's Rights, minority rights in general have done it by taking extreme positions, getting as noisy as possible, and then compromising. Which is what you do if you really want change.

The "street fighting man" is on the right track if he can find enough comrades. But by himself he doesn't count for much, nor should he.