There have been many moments in history when working people have looked at what was happening around them and knew, clearly and without doubt, that things were very wrong and who then set about affecting a change for the benefit of all. 

My own great hero in this regard, and one which every person with an interest in the countryside should know, was Gerrard Winstanley (1609-1676) the leader of the radical movement known as the Diggers who felt that the earth and its fruits were a "Common Treasury" for all.  He once memorably asked:

"Was the earth made to preserve a few covetous, proud men to live at ease, and for them to bag and barn up the treasures of the Earth from others, that these may beg or starve in a fruitful land; or was it made to preserve all her children?" (Gerrard Winstanley The New Law of Righteousness, 1649)