The abuses of the late 19th century's Gilded Age were more directly experienced by the average first-world worker, and today's breads & circuses are more pervas

The abuses of the late 19th century's Gilded Age were more directly experienced by the average first-world worker, and today's breads & circuses are more pervasive by orders of magnitude. To really mobilize the general public, the distractions from the pain will have to subside or the pain itself must grow.