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.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Timely article. To see the eradication of voting rights happening here now goes against a moral society and goes against long standing evidence. Easy voting cards? Gone. Easy enrolment for all ages and abilities? Gone.
Anti democratic and anti evidence policy making is dangerous for New Zealand’s democracy. Whoever said Luxon is centrist is misinformed at best.
Anon 08:04: The value of everything is exactly what you pay for it. Easy voting included.
If you have to drag your sorry ass to a voting booth and prove your eligibility you may at least think about where you cast that vote.
As a long-term developing country resident I tend to agree with Li Kuan Yu when he said, "I have never believed that democracy brings progress. I know it to have brought regression."
In a situation where tribalism rules, introducing ballot box democracy strengthens rather than weakens the fracture lines. In PNG, the lead-up time to elections was always violent and bloody where I lived in the Highlands, party politics having become an extension of tribal rivalries.
The ancient Greeks never had it in mind that every man and his dog should be allowed to vote. In the UK, universal suffrage was introduced only in 1928. You have to wonder whether it was very clever allowing the semiliterate sheeple to have any input into who will govern and by what policy guidelines. Western democracy has become a matter of catering to the lowest common denominator as the US very clearly shows.
Luxon and National are deliberately destroying democracy in NZ by giving extraordinary rights to anyone who can claim to have a single drop of Maori DNA.
WHY ??
One person, one vote - gone at local body level - why ???
I do not understand why Luxon is doing this and he refuses to offer any explanation.
Treaty Principles Bill - we are all equal - " there is nothing I like about it " says Luxon.
He has become the enemy within.
Perhaps if we renamed what we call ‘democracy’ in this country as ‘Political Party Rule’ we might have a better view of our political system. It seems to me that true ‘democracy’ would entail direct selection from those amongst us who, ideally, have the capacity and integrity to govern. ‘Voting’ is always going to be an arbitrary and highly flawed method of establishing some random sort of governance, that may well be to our serious disadvantage. And indeed has been over the last, say, 30 years.
Anon 1125 you’re talking about direct democracy vs representative democracy. Direct works well in small enclaves and cult setups, but doesn’t scale to reality.
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