It takes the situation getting so bad that something has to be done. Otherwise people will just suck it up, complain, and grind through their days.

Autocrats and oligarchs count on that. You can let things get bad and corrupt and oppressive so long as they don't get TOO bad, corrupt or oppressive... and if you turn the screws slowly enough, it can get pretty bad before the break point comes.

One of the realities is that the people will often turn on each other before they turn on the shitheads that are actually the problem.