[neniajany]

Now Mubarak resigned, I hope Egyptian heading toward the total democracy without interference from religious radical and extremists. I hope the people realize that religions and politics can't go hand in hand together. Otherwise, we are going to have another Iran. Good luck to you all Egyptian. Lets freedom and prosperity flow over your country.

[Tnzxovoz]

careful what folks wish for.... egypt could potentially revert back to the egypt I *seem* to remember from my early youth...

[Sarbrienna]

I wish them all the best but historically I fear the odds are against them.
France - 2 year reign of terror
Russia - estimated 20 million dead in "purges"
China - anyone remember 100 Flowers?
Yugoslavia - Ethnic purges
Iran - send the school children in to clear Saddam's minefields
Haiti - perhaps the poorest County in the World
Mexico - How many revolutions - what has changed?

Revolution seldom delivers anything other than misery, you replace one despot with a different one and for the majority things just go from bad to worse.

[Mmzmptvk]

Revolution seldom delivers anything other than misery, you replace one despot with a different one and for the majority things just go from bad to worse.

That's not a good enough reason to avoid revolution.
Can you think of any occasion when a corrupt government has been removed peacefully? Violence is sometimes unavoidable. So, when it happens, we have to hope that it will eventually lead to something better. At least, they have a chance that they didn't have before.

[meteeratymn]

I wish them all the best but historically I fear the odds are against them.
France - 2 year reign of terror
Russia - estimated 20 million dead in "purges"
China - anyone remember 100 Flowers?
Yugoslavia - Ethnic purges
Iran - send the school children in to clear Saddam's minefields
Haiti - perhaps the poorest County in the World
Mexico - How many revolutions - what has changed?

Revolution seldom delivers anything other than misery, you replace one despot with a different one and for the majority things just go from bad to worse.

So, people should just accept being ruled by a dictator?.
Do you really think that the people of Haiti should have accepted slavery?
That the people in the US should have accepted being under the British?
That

[Gakeincidoniac]

I don't see why the big deal over Egypt is really, there are many other countries going through crap and civil wars but you don't see forums full of topics about that.

Media hype and two face behaviour.

[gooseCile]

I don't see why the big deal over Egypt is really, there are many other countries going through crap and civil wars but you don't see forums full of topics about that.

Media hype and two face behaviour.

It may be because for better or worse, the change in Egypt can shift the power in that region.

[Obgrfbke]

Good luck to the people of Egypt. They have achieved something remarkable. Sure the future is uncertain. But let's not deny them this brief interlude of celebration. Americans are fond of expressing how everyone "needs to have a dream". Perhaps the people of Egypt can develop a vision of the future they want, and then work to put it into action.

b

[Fdmnrnba]

[snip]
Do you really think that the people of Haiti should have accepted slavery?
That the people in the US should have accepted being under the British?
That

Yet I see your location is Canada which did not revolt, rather than the US or Mexico both of whom did.
Perhaps the most controversial event in the US last year was changes in Health Care, trying to move more toward the Canadian model.

Are the people in the US so much better off politically than Canada, Australia, New Zealand which did not revolt?
Was it worth the lives and wars?

Haiti, certainly should have revolted against the French, but from 1791 to today what has been accomplished by their free leaders and how has it helped the people.

Do you support the US decision to displace Saddam Hussein in Iraq, or should that have been left to internal Iraqi dissidents.
Do you support the US decision to displace Kaiser Wilhelm, and other than scale, how was he different to Saddam? should he have been left to internal German dissidents.

I made no statement that the Egyptians should not revolt, I wished them success.
I only remarked on how seldom revolt actually improved the lives of those of the oppressed, historically they have an uphill battle which has only really started now.
Getting rid of despot #1 is a lot easier than getting a stable benevolent government after.

Anything else is your assumption, not my thoughts.

[Dstyeglm]

Blanket declarations of whether revolutions are good or bad doesn't really see them for what they are (assuming they are genuine as opposed to foreign intervention).

Look up catastrophe theory. Systems evolve over time and at some point the ability to evolve does not keep up with the environment in which it is evolving. At this point, the system collapses to be replaced by a new paradigm (in the same way if you feel stuck in kendo it's time to have a look at everything and start from the basics again).

In the case of political revolutions, basically the system is no longer able to meet the needs of the huge mass of working and middle classes who keep the system going. The middle class in particular would benefit the most in a change of regime and have the skills to implement the changes. Something comes along to break the camel's back as it were, in the case of Egypt it was rising food prices.

Whatever new system comes along will have it flaws and excesses which can be debated endlessly.