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Ryan Bridge: Democracy is a privilege billions still don't have · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Big weekend of events. We had a wedding, we had
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: a funeral, and we had a massive anniversary bash. Congratulations
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to America, to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, to Iranians
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: who lived under and were persecuted by the Ayatola, and
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Rugby in that order. If eighteen forty is the start
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: line of our democracy, and I know some don't think
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: it is, America is not actually that much older or
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: grown up than us. And speaking of that, Trump's speech
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: describing the declaration of Independence as the single greatest achievement
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in human history was perhaps a little over the top,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: not unlike Trump, but also not to be scoffed at entirely.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: They enjoy many freedoms as we do that most of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the rest of the world just does not. And we
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: forget about this elections protest assembly speech. Yes, these are
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: tested from time to time, but you cannot deny the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: fact that America is one of the most liberal and
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: freely expressive states in the world and in all of
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: human history. Freedom house tracks democracies, they reckon. Just twenty
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: one percent of the world's population today actually live in
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a free society and a democracy, and it's been tracking
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: down for decades because you have military cups, you have conflicts,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: you have power grabs. In Africa, nine countries have had
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: successful coups since twenty nineteen, since COVID crazy. We don't
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: know how good we've got it until it's gone, and
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: that's the problem. And two hundred and fifty years without
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: one is worth celebrating without saying it's been perfect. No
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: country is. Freedom feels good when you can enjoy it,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: as Tata and Travis clearly did on the weekend. Congratulations
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: to them. Here we enjoy rugby and we beat the French.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And in Iran, the weekend's pictures showed mourning and tears
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: for the eye are told, but the truth is it's
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: harder to see without a clearer lens that democracy provides.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Many in Iran and expats around the world would have
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: seen his funeral not as a sad event but cause
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: for celebration. Till more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talks It'd be from five am weekdays,
• 2:04
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