People will receive bad news better if you know how to communicate and engage with them.
As an example, the angry vegan on the street shouting, "Shame! Shame on you!" doesn't convince you to go vegan. The vegan that engages you in rational debate and shows you how a vegan lifestyle isn't as hard/daunting as it seems, may convince you.
It's foolish to realize that people will ignore bad news from some unkempt academic that seems a bit off, rather than by a clean-cut smooth-talker in an expensive suit.
A vegan that is explaining to you how easy their lifestyle is can hardly be said to be bringing you bad news. On the other hand a vegan that is calmly/politely/diplomatically explaining their point of view on the ethics of eating meat could be said to be bringing bad news, and I expect you will find that vegans are 'heard' far less often when they discuss that topic. I certainly tune them out and start getting annoyed when they go down that route, no matter how diplomatically they do it.
The bizarre dual nature of patriotism and politics in the US makes it even worse for anyone looking to bring Stallman's message to the public. Telling people that "the system is not flawless and world would be wonderful if only 'those other jerks' stopped trying to subvert the system" is somewhere between "eating a hotdog is like eating your child" and "cows should be able to vote in elections". People have too much emotional stake in that system being the right system. Many of them have literally killed for it, or known people who were killed for it. They've lost sons, daughters, fathers and grandfathers who were fighting for it. They put people currently fighting for it on a pedestal of unconditional support. They have romantic notions of people before them fighting and dying for it.
Maybe there is somebody out there charismatic enough to convince the general population to consider fundamental flaws with the system itself, but I don't think that such a person has really been seen in politics for many many years.
Well, you can take a shortcut if you appeal to stronger allegiances than faith in American democracy... but those shortcuts drive us in the wrong direction.
A vegan telling you about how easy an ethical lifestyle can be is still telling you, albeit very nicely, that our society is engaged in institutional atrocities and that you are complicit in them. They are just not dwelling on the negatives.
The point is that those are things that people do not want to hear. This is why vegans, no matter how polite they are, rarely find a receptive audience when they talk about those things.
People rarely like bad news when it means great change. If you can convince them that the change isn't as daunting as they might initially conceive, you've got your foot in the door.
An example, "Beef is bad for you, but chicken/turkey is better." Sure you might miss steaks, but most recipes that call for ground beef could easily be substituted with ground turkey or chicken with little fuss.
As an example, the angry vegan on the street shouting, "Shame! Shame on you!" doesn't convince you to go vegan. The vegan that engages you in rational debate and shows you how a vegan lifestyle isn't as hard/daunting as it seems, may convince you.
It's foolish to realize that people will ignore bad news from some unkempt academic that seems a bit off, rather than by a clean-cut smooth-talker in an expensive suit.