I agree with you about media. But I think lack of activism comes down to confusion. Similar to the age of the robber barons, when the American middle class just couldn't make sense of the monopolies and scandals that were forming.
"They knew that all these scandals were somehow a part of the enormous changes that were happening to American society. But they also knew that the new technologies and giant industries were bringing amazing benefits and transforming their world and the way they related to each other. Nobody seemed to be able to understand the true dimensions of what was happening."
"They knew that all these scandals were somehow a part of the enormous changes that were happening to American society. But they also knew that the new technologies and giant industries were bringing amazing benefits and transforming their world and the way they related to each other. Nobody seemed to be able to understand the true dimensions of what was happening."
From a recent (and very long) Adam Curtis article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/WHAT-THE-FLUCK