Part of the emotional energy that fuels insurgent movements is the deep-seated resentment they feel towards what they perceive as the undeserved sense of moral superiority displayed by "The Establishment." Revolutionaries reject the cultural and economic elite's confident assertions that they possess an underlying virtue that justifies their privileged station.
The insurgents' anger can only get them so far, though. The ruling class often absorbs, co-opts or rewards society's most talented in order to protect their own interests. Moreover, the laws or, more importantly, those that enforce the laws are almost never with the rebels.
Most uprisings fail to get far because the combined forces that confront them are over-whelming.