Perhaps the most important factor, however, is that teenagers today are more hopeful than older people that they can change the world. Older working people have fought major battles against the corporations and been defeated in the last few decades. Teens haven't experienced these defeats. They are demonstrating in the streets because they believe that they can win. The important thing is they are right.
Movements never win more than they explicitly set out to win.
The anti-sweatshop movement is aiming too low to really solve problems like sweatshops. And no jobs have been downsized. This dream falls short of what is necessary. We need a world in which people who want to exploit others for selfish gain have no power to do so. Our goal must be a world-wide democratic revolution that turns the world upside down.