People don't typically fight against a powerful institution, at least not with very much effort, until it is already a life & death situation for them. They might grumble if they're not happy with their lives, but they won't put aside much dedication or risk until they realize that they have more to lose by not doing so.
For example, look at how protesting has evolved. Large demonstrations had been stereotyped for the last couple decades as a hobby for middle-class white 15-25 year olds. It just so happens that those are the people who had the least to lose by their participation, along with enough education to know that things aren't right and perspective balanced enough between the rich and the poor and uncertainty of their own futures to know that they should care. So we've had this very limited group that's been doing this for a long time, and been the most outspoken against the way the world's going.
Now that the shit has actually started to hit the fan, other groups of people are in a position where they have nothing to lose by participating. The demographics have exploded.
What I'm saying is, it's not that people will fight because they're not getting what they want, and what they want is short-sighted and thus an obstacle to long-term success. I'm saying people won't fight until they're not getting what they need, because long-term goals become irrelevant to the individual who will never get to see their realization if they can't supply their immediate needs.
You can make a fine argument that a government can put its people through harsh conditions as part of a long-term plan to bring about much better conditions later, but people are generally not willing to sacrifice themselves in that manner. You can convince people to do a lot of things for a greater cause, even risk their lives at war... but willingly shipping yourself off to fight and maybe die is a very different position from unwillingly freezing and starving to death in an alley.