Rise of the Middle Class?

The United States shift to corporatocracy and technocracy started in the late 70s and kicked into high gear in the 80s and 90s. The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 is one piece of legislation that changed the country. Prior to the MCA, trucking was heavily regulated not for safety or efficiency, but to control the market and to prevent competition. As a consequence of deregulation, trucker's wages fell 20-50% over the years.

People's attitudes and beliefs also shifted, partly because of corporate propaganda and hollywood brainwashing. However, hollywood and corporate propaganda is becoming less effective on a daily basis. As ownership of media companies concentrated in the past couple of decades it seems like the audience for their shit just started walking away, and in many cases became hostile. At the same time, it's become much easier for independent and individual content producers to make and distribute media.

Rather than drive concentration of ownership and production and the ongoing corporatization of America, the Internet could spurn a renaissance of localism and a corresponding middle class boom and oligarchy shrinkage.