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Name; Maram Hossam

ID; 800-10-4154

Course; Econ 312

Dr.Monal Abdel Baki

Spring 2011

First reaction Paper

Separation between ownership and management

25th of January, the Blaze revolution or as we call it the Revolution of the

youth. A day that no one will ever forget, leaving us with so many unanswered
questions. Was it a real revolution? Are the youth its owners? How long will this
situation last? Who¶s the next president of the ARE? Will it be another Orange one?
The answers to these questions don¶t only depend on the power of expectations, but it
depends on being aware of everything going on, analyzing the situation correctly, and
working so hard to reach our goals as well.

We all believe that it was a real revolution where millions of people went out
of their homes, spoke their minds and asked for noble demands. But is it a youth
revolution as it was termed? Some people say that it was a youth's revolution, and
others say it was a people' one. I'm actually confused about this. The youth were the
ones who started it but they would've never succeeded without the people supporting
them. Also I believe that the Egyptian army-being mentioned by no one- had a very
crucial role in not letting Egypt be a first Libya. The army saved the revolution but
not yet achieved all of its goals.

Being confused about this-agree or disagree with professor Galal- doesn't

make it a big deal, but what really matters is that "Are those owners capable of
managing this country?". Professor Galal was really upset about us wanting to rule the
country, which is a point that I really support. But before judging, we should think
what makes us unable to do so? The answer is very simple. Inexperience. If we're
considering youth till the age of 40, then no one below this age no matter how well-
educated and qualified can be able to run this country.

The problem is that we're very emotional driven by our hearts. We don't even
think before speaking, then how we are able to run a whole nation? Although we're so
creative, active and full of energy, unfortunately we're immature, we're risk-takers,
and we want to try everything to know whether we were right or mistaken. For me I
always believed that I knew more than my parents did, and that they were born old,
but I realized that they've been through every single stage I'm facing in my life and
even more.
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I agree with Professor Galal about not wanting us to manage the country, but
the point is that do we want to do so? Of course not. I actually don't know how he
concluded that. The owners don't want to be the managers. I watched many interviews
on the T.V and attended many lectures; I've never heard any of those who participated
saying so. All what they keep saying is that they're inexperienced enough and they
can't be responsible for a whole nation of 80 million citizens.

Even you my dear Professor, when you ask any question in the class and we
don't respond, you keep telling us "«then how come you want to keep us away and
take-over?". This is definitely not possible. It actually never crossed our minds. We
can't stand-up without you being there to support us. We can't move forward without
your guidance, we can't even think without you organizing our thoughts and we
definitely won't be the future leaders of this country without your preparation. You
should then trust me when I tell you "we're nothing without you".

And even those who had the thoughts of forming a party all they wanted was
to have a voice in the parliament, no one thought they'd be nominating a president at
least not before 10 years from now. But the question is "do we deserve this?´

When the revolution started to change its banner from "bread, liberty, dignity,
social equity" to "Mubarak leave", I wasn't really happy about it. I didn¶t want him to
leave. I believed it was better for the sake of Egypt for him to transmit his position
peacefully. At that time, there were about one or two million in the Tahrir square, I
believed those people didn't reflect what the whole nation wanted. But on the 11th of
February, about 20 million protesters-according to the media- were there all over
Egypt-although I doubt that number was correct- I believed back then that it was time
for Mubarak to leave, because even if it wasn't my will, that was what my people
wanted so let be.

What was proved lately that they were minority-not more than 5% of the
population- and that they don't reflect the whole 80 million opinions. The most recent
event that took place and proved that was the latest referendum; everyone of the
Tahrir youth said "No" and urged people to say so. But unfortunately the result was
"yes". Actually 14 million said "yes"- which had nothing to do with Ekhwan-. Now I
wonder what would've been the result if we made a referendum before the 11th of
February for Mubarak to stay.

The Tahrir youth represents about 5% of the population but what about the
rest? According to the CIA factbook, the Egyptians are considered as a young
population, our median age is 24, and huge percentage of our population is between
the age of 20 and 40. So those 5% are moving the whole country. It was my 1st time to
realize why we were called "the silent majority".
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Being minority, do they deserve to have their demands achieved? Yes,

because they're still part of this country and they have their own rights as well. Their
voices should be heard. But do they have the right to speak in terms of the whole
nation? Of course not. So instead of agreeing and disagreeing about their behavior,
serious actions should be taken; they've always called for help. They NEED YOU.
They need you experience, they don't only have the right to speak their minds but they
deserve to be embraced as well.

One of the simple mistakes that happened to prove they don't know that much,
when someone came-up with the idea of collecting the return of Suez-canal with
Egyptian pounds instead of foreign one so that we can increase the value of our
currency. First, I thought "wow that would be great" but then when I searched the
idea, I found out that it was insulting to our intellectual thinking to come-up with such
idea. Although they do mistakes, let's look at the new bright side. I've never seen
Egyptians urging each other to read, keep streets clean, lower our voices, not to fight,
listen to others««

Now I wonder who the next president of my beloved country is. I can swear
that no one on earth-except for the US intelligence- can be able to predict the true
answer. Actually the past regime left us with no options. Neither youth nor nominated
people-up till now- are qualified enough. It's actually being too funny how a lot of
people think that anyone can nominate him/herself for presidency. A couple of days
ago I was listening to "Nogoom FM" and one was telling "Osama Mounir"-with all of
my respect to him- to nominate himself. I guess people are mistaken about the term
"president of the republic". We're not talking about a management of a shop or even a
mega±mall. It's ruling a country of 80 million citizens. When will we be able to
understand this? I hope very soon.

I always believed that years pass to tell you of dreams you never knew you
had, knowing your dreams come after hard work and going through different paths.
After all, we can't forget what those youth did for us. I had a thought that If I died and
came back to life I'd find the exact same regime ruling the country and that corruption
was mortal. But guess what; they're gone. They¶re not there anymore. Although life
now is disturbed, unsafe and we're still facing the revolution consequences. We're at
the darkest point just before dawn. A new sun will be rising very soon by the will of
Allah. A new Egypt will be seen. It's time to wake-up and do our best. It's our last
chance to be or not to be. It's now or never. So, would this be another Orange one? I
hope not, because you never fail if you don't give-up.

We're shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think. Think great, act great and
be not afraid of greatness.
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Works cited

USA. CIA Factbook. Population Distribution. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

<http://www.tradingeconomics.com/egypt/literacy-rate-youth-total-percent-of-
people-ages-15-24-wb-data.html>.

Abdel Salam, Mohammed. µ¶Egypt¶s youth coalition µapproves¶ referendum results¶¶.

Mar 23, 2011. April 3, 2011.

http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=31088.