Losing hope for the US

I have become so saddened by the way the USA is treating the very people it promises to protect. I fear for the people who need it most, those that have lost their jobs, their homes, their lives as they know it-the real middle class. I also feel that the very weakest of our society needs a safety net like medicaid, medical, social security and services. I have always been a social democrat. I felt it was my responsibility as a citizen of my country to help those that were unable to help themselves for whatever reason-I still believe it. What I don't believe is the selfishness of those that think that everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and prosper like the old days. With our cost going up and our education on the brink of disaster for all but the richest Americans who can afford private education I am losing my hopefulness for the country that I know we could be. The divide between the very rich and the rest of us is becoming untenable for me to even think about without getting very discouraged. To tell the truth I am sick of politics, I am sick of PAC's except for Stephen Colbert's. I am sick of tea partiers (a minority) ruining our country) and the far right religious nuts who want to bring back church with state. There are no easy answers and this is what worries me the most. We spend more than we make and that can't be good. We need to raise taxes and that can't be good although so necessary in my mind. And lastly where do the poor and middle end up? If we take away all services for the mentally ill they will be on the streets along with tent cities in every major city where the homeless live. Our city and country will be blighted with people sick, uneducated and poor. What does that say about the supposed greatest country in the world? It says we are willing to leave all our values behind and become selfish and so non empathetic for those that really need our help. This makes me lean even farther left. We need something to happen. I want to march again. I want to fly flags and banners and get Another Mother for Peace going full steam. I want the ERA to pass (not a chance in this climate). I want "do unto others as you would want them to do unto you", I want love and peace and buttons back on. I want to take back the power of the people.
How do we rally the forces again? I want to march on Washington now and everyday until our elected officials hear the majority of us, not the ends of the spectrum but the middle which has the most voices if they only got together. We have ended war together with marching and protests, we need to make speeches and keep the dreams alive. As I age I am beginning to wonder if I will see this movement again in my lifetime. I hope my children can march with me again like they did back in the day and I would like to include my grandkids as their life stands to lose the most if the current climate continues. Please help me find my way.