Been thinking about it a lot, and how would people be able to communicate with each other if the forces of capital (huge telecom conglomerates) just decided to shut down and become dormant? Capitalism has such a stranglehold on society that we'd be absolutely fucked. What about our electrical grids? And to add onto that, you're probably facing the US military in addition to the militaries of all its allies
Not the best example given all the baggage, but simply to your point about communication: People didn't begin amassing in Tahrir Square until AFTER the government pulled the plug on everyone's internet connection.