If we were to have a revolution here, even in a decade or two, we'd probably end up with something much worse than what we have now.
If you're a Verizon customer, you have standing to sue the government in a class action and challenge the constitutionality of its actions.
We're stil a democracy and when it comes down to it we're still a democracy that gives a lot of power to any one senator. If you have one dog in the fight - if the people in even one state can get their act together enough to elect someone on your side - there are things you can do to have your voice heard.
You really shouldn't feel so unempowered - despite the 1% rhetoric, it's still pretty much the best time in the history of the world for the little guy.
We just need the laws to be followed.
Arguably it already is.
Nobody cares.
(ran by Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law prof who also founded the Creative Commons movement)
Democratic control can provide equality and fairness, with every person one vote, rather than the market where some people having more impact than others, simply because they are richer.
Maybe because in America there hasn't been good governance for so long, trust is low, and the only solution many see is to simply chop down government to the minimum... but there are other solutions, actual democracy is one of them.
I'd tend to agree the right place to start is building a technological solution to the problem. One that people actually will want to use.
Develop and deploy good cryptosystems, and encourage people to use them. My mother uses OTR to chat with me; she does not fully understand why it matters (or even that it is being used), yet our conversations are safe from prying eyes. Sure, it is just a small step, but it is better than nothing. A lot of small steps would quickly make the NSA's program prohibitively expensive (even for the NSA).
