A lot of 'nerds' are actually politically active with the Pirate movement. The difference is that it's 100x more difficult to pass a single law when you're trying to change stuff like copyright laws. And over 99.9% of people active in the movement are getting paid 0$/h.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party

"I take great solace in the fact that there are people out there actually changing the world."

As if the only way to change the world is through legislation.