Ryan Bridge: Democracy is a privilege billions still don't have

It was a weekend of big events. A wedding, a funeral, and a milestone birthday.

Congratulations, in that order, to America on its 250th anniversary, to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on their wedding, to those Iranians who suffered under the Ayatollah's rule, and to the All Blacks for beating France.

America's birthday is worth pausing on. If you take 1840 as the beginning of New Zealand's democracy, and many do, then the United States isn't actually that much older than we are.

Donald Trump, in typical fashion, declared the Declaration of Independence the greatest achievement in human history. That's probably overstating it. But it doesn't mean the occasion itself should be dismissed.

For 250 years, despite civil war, political upheaval and countless crises, the United States has remained a democracy. It hasn't been perfect, no country is, but it has protected freedoms that much of the world still lacks.

The freedoms to vote, to protest, to assemble and to speak your mind are things many of us take for granted.

They're tested from time to time, but they endure. America remains one of the freest and most open societies in the world.

That's worth remembering because most people don't live that way. According to Freedom House, only about one in five people worldwide live in a genuinely free society. And that number has been falling for years as military coups, wars and authoritarian governments spread. Since 2019 alone, nine African nations have experienced successful military coups.

Freedom is easy to overlook when you've always had it. You only realise its value when it's threatened or taken away.

That's why 250 years of democratic government deserves recognition, even while acknowledging America's flaws.
The contrast was on display over the weekend.

In America, people celebrated a national milestone. Here in New Zealand, we celebrated an All Blacks win. And in Iran, crowds gathered to mourn the Ayatollah.

But perspective matters. For many Iranians, particularly those forced into exile or persecuted by the regime, his funeral wasn't a moment of grief. It was a moment of relief, even celebration.

Democracy gives us the freedom to see those differences clearly. It's a privilege billions of people still don't have.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Big weekend of events. We had a wedding, we had
a funeral, and we had a massive anniversary bash. Congratulations
to America, to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, to Iranians
who lived under and were persecuted by the Ayatola, and
Rugby in that order. If eighteen forty is the start
line of our democracy, and I know some don't think
it is, America is not actually that much older or

(00:21):
grown up than us. And speaking of that, Trump's speech
describing the declaration of Independence as the single greatest achievement
in human history was perhaps a little over the top,
not unlike Trump, but also not to be scoffed at entirely.
They enjoy many freedoms as we do that most of
the rest of the world just does not. And we

(00:42):
forget about this elections protest assembly speech. Yes, these are
tested from time to time, but you cannot deny the
fact that America is one of the most liberal and
freely expressive states in the world and in all of
human history. Freedom house tracks democracies, they reckon. Just twenty
one percent of the world's population today actually live in

(01:04):
a free society and a democracy, and it's been tracking
down for decades because you have military cups, you have conflicts,
you have power grabs. In Africa, nine countries have had
successful coups since twenty nineteen, since COVID crazy. We don't
know how good we've got it until it's gone, and
that's the problem. And two hundred and fifty years without
one is worth celebrating without saying it's been perfect. No

(01:27):
country is. Freedom feels good when you can enjoy it,
as Tata and Travis clearly did on the weekend. Congratulations
to them. Here we enjoy rugby and we beat the French.
And in Iran, the weekend's pictures showed mourning and tears
for the eye are told, but the truth is it's
harder to see without a clearer lens that democracy provides.

(01:49):
Many in Iran and expats around the world would have
seen his funeral not as a sad event but cause
for celebration. Till more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.
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