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I subscribe to the theory that it's not the poor who foment revolution. I believe that it's actually the people who are comfortable. If you are truly poor, you have little energy left for activities outside of subsistance. The people who start revolutions are generally higher up the food chain. They have full bellies and enough leisure to think about what they want that they haven't got. IE: where reality falls short of expectation. Classic examples of this abound in history.

Most peasant revolts in Medieval England were started by upper peasants. My favorate example of this is a revolt in the 1380's. The bubonic plague raised the standard of living all over England. Pretty much everyone had enough to eat and extra. Middle and Upper peasants had enough time and energy to sit around drinking ale of an evening and complain about lack of rights. Basically they were angry about legal restrictions on the peasantry. The well off serfs were angry about the restrictions on the servile population. The well off free folks were mostly pissed about fees, fines and taxes. (The immediate event that started the revolt was a poll tax which required everyone, reguardless of wealth to pay the same amount. This meant that the local carpenter paid the same as the wealthiest Lord.) Pamphlets started circulating, and the well off who could read read them to the folks drinking ale. Everybody got worked up, and soon a general uprising started. The leaders were all skilled craftsmen and upper peasants. The mob did include the poor, who joined to help burn the court and tax rolls, but it was the well off who lead.

The French revolution was started by nobles who wanted to limit the power of the king in their favor. The middle class, annoyed about legal restrictions, high taxes, and a lack of social mobility joined in, swelling the movement. The poor saw an opportunity to finally get some revenge and improve their lot, and snatched it away.

The American Revolution was also lead by the well educated and well off. For example: Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton were all rich American gentry. Franklin was a self made man of wealth, who owned a lot of tenements and several businesses. The Adamses were proffessional class new Englanders. Paul Revere was a successful silver smith. The list goes on. The people organizing the war, writing manifestos, etc. weren't the poor. They had enough time and energy to follow the broadsheets and get worked up over rights they wanted. They were well off enough to get angry about taxes cutting into their profit margin. This actually fits a much broader historical pattern.