I honestly couldn't parse your first sentence (probably more my fault than yours, I'm pretty tired and can't connect your post to mine).
The point I was trying to make is - progressives throughout modern history, from today going all the way back to first wave feminism, have actually done a marvelous job organizing themselves and tackling their areas of concern holistically. Their successes didn't only come from educating the public, although that was certainly an important part. But their successes also came from lobbying, boycotting, protests, civil disobedience, and sometimes even rioting. They changed minds, won legislation, and occasionally even put the fear of God in rich people and the police. Feminists, black civil rights activists, later day progressives, - they all worked to change the people and the system, because it's never, ever going to be enough to only change one of those things.
For example, it's really nice to teach people to be compassionate towards the disabled. But regardless of how much you, me, and the workers at a business may care about people with disabilities, that business ain't gonna pay to put in a ****in' ramp. Not unless the government makes 'em do it; that's how capitalism works, dudeskis. Society never would have changed without the ADA (and corresponding legislation in other countries).
So if you really want to change society, you should probably take a lesson from the few people who have managed to do it.