Ban The Buses? - Ban the Chareidim!

Recently, there was another incident on a mehadrin bus, a 497 from Beit Shemesh to Bnei Brak, where some people got out of hand and a melee ensued, involving stones and police, etc., etc. We've heard it before.
What particularly interested me here was a reaction we're starting to see on the blogosphere. Some are asking, why do the Rabonim not do something? Some are even asking, why don't we see bans? Cherems?
I believe these questions are based on a false premise, one that is product of the JBlogospheres, and perhaps the wider MO community's own imagination.
There appears to be a belief that the Israeli Chareidi society is tightly controlled by a system of bans and threats. Every form of freedom, indeed any action that is done by more than three people is subject to review and control. The Gedolim are the ultimate big brothers.
Well, it ain't like that. Sure, there is a fair amount of involvement of Gedolim in public affairs. But the truth is, that most people pretty much do whatever they want. Bans etc. are all only for the people who want to listen. You want a non-meushar phone? Go ahead. If you're not embarrassed, no-one's going to stop you. Want to ride a non-mehadrin bus? It's a free country. Don't like the school rules? Send your kids somewhere else, or open your own. People do it all the time.
And if you think you're a tzaddik gomur, but you're too frustrated to speak to a woman and ask her nicely to move, and can't handle it when she says no, well, just beat her up.
No amount of public proclamations are going to help here. There's no-one listening, and those who are, it doesn't apply to them. When our brothers across the sea start to reign in their imaginations and realize the nature of society in Israel, we might hear some useful suggestions.