Oh we've realized it. We just don't seem to care enough to do anything about it. If we did try to do anything we would just end up getting arrested for being a terrorist.
A few voices on the internet don't have any leverage vs a whole silence country.
It's all I can do right now, other than write my Congressman.
Don't hold your breath. I don't think it's an age thing. I felt like you do when I was in high-school, and/or in college... now "my generation" is well into the range where people my are are serving in Congress and other government positions, and it's still business as usual.
There just seem to be certain types of people, regardless of age, who are drawn to becoming part of the State and who are good at getting elected. And every generation churns out its measure of assholes.
In the more stable US two-party system, you may need to resort to somewhat older methods, which are still widely used around the world even in present days:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_U.S._involve...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989