Spot-on comments from a friend:

 

You are exactly right on RTTT, and your analogies are apt. Here's another one: No one can point to the one event that toppled Soviet and Chinese communism, because it wasn't caused by a single devastating blow. Thousands of events culminated in the general perception within the society, including the leadership, that its economic and political system was dysfunctional. Likewise, the US is slowly coming to grips with the structural deficiencies built into its public ed system. It's a 20-year process, but when the history is written, RTTT will be seen as a significant contributor to change.