When you think about it, 18 days of protesting is all it took to rid Egypt of a 30-year dictator. I have been going to Egypt since 1992 listening to complaints about 'the regime' and nothing happened. I guess it's because Facebook had not been invented!
Now comes the hard part -- creating a multi-party system when all opposition has been systematically crushed for those same 30 years. This neonatal democracy will depend for its existence on the military, not a typical standard bearer of democratic ideals. The Egyptian military has produced all three of the country's ex-presidents as well as many of its appointed and 'elected' officials. The top military brass own at least 20% of the country's major private companies. How they shepherd the country through this period is anyone's guess at this point.
The primary concern of average working class Egyptians is having good paying jobs and a future for their children. Whatever it takes to make that happen is acceptable to them, even if the military runs the show. For young adults however, college educated with no jobs, democracy means having a say in how government operates and having leaders who think the same way. The average age in Egypt, and for that matter in the Middle East as a whole, is late teens or early 20s.That is who started this revolution and they are intent on seeing it through.
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