The last couple of weeks have brought us a full plate of pictures from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya. Can any of us ever forget the images from Cairo’s Tahrir Square? Or the monstrous Muammar al‑Gaddafi, also known as Colonel Gaddafi, speaking to his people from the back seat of an automobile holding a white umbrella?

But the one that may stick the longest is the human ring of ordinary men and women standing guard around the Cairo Museum, making a barrier of bodies all the way around the perimeter of the building. Word had spread that the night before a small but clumsy gang of looters had broken into the museum, stealing some objects, stupidly destroying others. 

The youthful crowds of protestors responded by rushing to protect the building and the priceless items it housed. Why did they do thi…