Bernard Shaw's Remarkable Religion: A Faith That Fits the Facts

Ethics, Economics, and Government 175
debauch an ignorant public at will” (Pref. Heartbreak House 5:16–17).
Pseudo-democracy, which stops at providing votes for everybody, is a disaster
because it assures the election of demagogues and frauds who have
no interest in educating the public. Their purpose is to exploit, not to serve.
Government by the Best Does Not Mean Inequality
Shaw lacked a common assumption most of us share: the idea that
“bosses” have some sort of God-given, natural rights of ownership over
those they boss. We assume that employees work for their employer, that
children belong to their parents. For Shaw the relation of boss and bossed
was necessary and potentially beneficial while that of master and slave was
useless and destructive. We reluctantly accept the need for bosses (in no
area of group endeavor have we managed to do without them), but because
of our unwarranted assumptions about their rights we constantly rebel
against them. Our anarchistic ideals conflict destructively with our idolatry
of power. Perhaps we should revise our thinking. 4
Dictators and Democracy
Shaw trusted government, not because he placed all his hope in tyrants but
because he had faith in people. The average person is not capable of government;
neither is she capable of making a decent pair of boots, but she
can recognize good boots when she sees them. More important, she allows
the cobbler to go on about his business. She does not criticize every stitch
and rivet or hamper him at every step because she does not trust him to do
his job. If we turn legislation and administration over to those with the
capacity for it, Shaw felt, we have as good a reason to trust them as to trust
the shoemaker. Governments are limited by the superstitions and ignorance
of the citizenry, just as the professions are confined by the follies of
the laity and cobblers constrained by the tastes of their customers. That is
why all change must come ultimately from the laity (Pref. Doctor’s Dilemma
3:296–97). The ignorance of the people is always an obstacle to
progress. The obvious answer is to educate them. People could not govern
themselves, even if perfectly informed, not because they are intrinsically
depraved or vicious but because the people cannot do anything in the mass
except as a mob does it (Sixteen Self Sketches 52). It is true that the consciences
of most people are not well-developed and suffer more or less
severely from myopia. Leaders must not only be talented; they must have
larger consciences. They must be moved by a sense of responsibility for the
community at large. “Government presents only one problem: the discov-