Based on academic research and the author's own personal experiences and impressions, this study examines the underlying causes of some of the more disturbing social, political, economic, and cultural phemonena that characterize Egyptian society today. Through an examination of issues ranging from the middle class, religious fanaticism, and attitudes to the West and western culture, to the Egyptian institution of the summer holiday by the sea, the author posits that social mobility has changed the customs and habits, moral and material values and patterns of consumption and investment of Egypt's aspiring classes, and has furthermore, induced the Egyptian people to ignore national and ideological issues of grave importance.