"They revolted because they deserved better"

In a recent New York Times article reference is made to the driving force behind the youth involvement in the revolutions happening throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The author of this article speaks to the ideals and concerns of a new generation of Libyans, quoting one man in particular: 


“People here didn’t revolt because they were hungry, because they wanted power or for religious reasons or something,” said Abdel-Rahman al-Dihami, a young man from Benghazi who had spent days at the front. “They revolted because they deserve better.”


This offers clear insight into what drives social change. The desire for societal improvement is powerful, and when youth find themselves being forced to follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents they are inclined to fight against the norm, against what they are being forced into, for the purpose of obtaining something better. While the case of revolution in the Middle East is more obvious, this was the same driving forced behind the student revolutions of 1960's/1970's America. Students revolting did not want to live a life of segregation, Army drafts, race wars, etc. They saw what their parent's went through, what their parents existed for, and they were eager to make their lives different. And they were willing to do so by force.