FREEDOM by G.B Shaw
The text is a broadcast address by G. B. Shaw on 17 June 1935. Here he has challenged the old order, the present order, and that which is still to come. It raised the storm of argument and controversy. George Bernard Shaw, the Irish-born writer, is regarded as the most significant British dramatist since Shakespeare. George Bernard Shaw was gifted with a very broad, insightful and creative mind. He excelled in literature, political thoughts, sociology, philosophy and science. As a novelist and playwright, he stands shoulder to shoulder with Shakespeare. He was a compassionate socialist, and a very compulsive debater. His radio talks dealing with philosophical and social issues often kicked up furious debates among listeners. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. .
Now remember, ladies and gentlemen, I have no time to talk the usual old nonsense about freedom, tonight. ………………………………………..it is their religious duty to sacrifice their freedom to yours.
Simplified version:
George Bernard Shaw is quite dismissive(indifferent) about the way the humans perceive (recognize) freedom. He debunks (throws light on) the lofty opinion about ‘freedom’ held by those who think they enjoy it. He states how, a human being, in order to stay alive, must eat, drink, sleep, wash, and do other bodily functions. Even if he goes into voluntary hibernation, he can’t avoid doing these functions. Nearly half of his day goes for these mundane (routine) inescapable functions. So, Shaw argues, Nature and the Creator rob the humans of half of their freedom. After this is done, a human has to work for a living. Those, who are too wealthy, need not work, but they must walk, do certain minimal works at home. Even these obligations can be got done through servants, animals like horses etc. But, still freedom eludes(avoids) them. They have to produce food, clothing, and a host of other goods and commodities to cater to their needs for a comfortable living. Thus, he cannot quite shake off the shackles (chains) of enslavement. Women suffer more as they have to bear children, apart from doing household chores to keep the tradition of family going. So, even for a very rich woman, slavery is un-avoidable.
So beware! If you allow any person, or class of persons, to get the upper hand of you, …………………………..………..The amazing thing about it is that you are fool enough to believe them.
Nature, by giving us the feeling of an empty stomach, has authorized that we feed ourselves at regular intervals to satisfy our hunger. To keep food on our table, we need to grow it in the fields. This obligation steals some of our freedom, but the problem gets worse when we are made to toil in someone else’s farm for long grueling(tough) hours to grow enormous amount of food for him. The person, who works for others, is paid very less, but large share goes to the owner’s granary. To feed one’s own family by growing food in one’s own land might need just a few hours of work a day, whereas working as a paid farm hand means dawn to dusk toil (hard work).
This is where, the government’s role is crucial. It must intervene (get involved) to stop such senseless exploitation that supports slavery. But, the government does the opposite. Instead of banning employment of farm hands, it regulates their working hours through various laws, thus covering it with the legal clothing.
Similarly, we are told that the once-in-five-years elections give us our freedom to choose our government. But, this exercise is nothing but deception in a grand scale. In the election, we are asked to choose a candidate from among a few contestants, almost all of them belonging to the affluent(wealthy) class. Our choice is, therefore, limited. The elected ones form the government that continues the practices of its predecessor. What we are told is, the new government has abolished the system of ‘bonded labour’ and all farm hands and factory workers can choose their employers as they wish. This is ‘freedom’, the government claims. But, in effect, it is nothing but continuation of slavery through the legal and constitutional route. And we believe this as fools. In another words, we are fool to believe this.
Now mark another big difference between the natural slavery of man to Nature…………………………….…………….A tramp can earn his supper by singing “Home, Sweet Home.”
Man is enslaved by both Nature and his fellow human beings. But, Nature is benign (kind) enough to ensure that the acts, which it forces us to do, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, cohabiting (living together) and raising a family, are all very pleasant functions. One never detests eating, sleeping or living in a home. So, humans have little to complain against the slavery enforced by Nature. It makes our life so joyous.
The slavery of man to man……………………..…………………………and not to attempt to put it on anyone else.
While the slave-like services humans offer to Nature leads to joyous and rewarding results, slavery under fellow powerful humans can prove be quite oppressive, exploitative and, often, degrading. The pain and humiliation the rich and the powerful inflict (impose) on their downtrodden (exploited) brethrens (brothers) can be hideous (shocking) Karl Marx saw this very clearly. Thomas More, the great Christian soul, who was later declared that ‘the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ can be narrowed to bearable levels only when every human being works with his own hands to produce what he needs for his consumption. Thomas More sang the praise of manual labour as a solution for the disharmony and friction in society.
Naturally the master class, through its Parliaments……………………………………and invite them to dinner.
Shaw felt that the institutions like the Parliament, schools and the newspapers are used by the exploiting ‘master class’ to brainwash(convince) the general public, especially, the poor and the powerless to believe that everything is fair in the society, and everyone enjoys the best possible degree of freedom. Our school history books are designed to create an impression in the minds of pupils, that there have been many historical events during different times.
For the un-convinced, who refuses to accept that he is indeed free, the pro-establishment protagonists (central characters) have a set reply. They point to the power of ‘vote’ granted to the citizens that empowers them to vote or vote out governments. The poor and the toiling classes are told that the government takes away some 25% to 50% of their incomes as taxes, cleverly concealing the fact that poor are working almost twice hard under the ‘just’ society as they would work if they were free.
Many radical thinkers have protested against this oppressive parasitic (blood sucking) structure for centuries. Sadly, these free thinkers are silenced by the strong powers of the state. Their writings are banned and their thoughts banished from the public.
Most shamefully, England sides with the tyrannical kings and emperors who thrive (prosper) on slavery, and wages war against the revolutionaries, who, fired with the revolutionary ideals, stand up to the state. The joining of hands between an oppressive empire and the government of Britain concluded in the victory at Waterloo. The government grabbed this opportunity to plead that British Freedom had triumphed. The innocent poor, swayed by the propaganda, cheered the government.
Now though this prodigious mass of humbug is meant to delude the enslaved class only, it ends …………………………………………………….. American ballot paper as far as their freedom is concerned.
The social system based on an elected government, the courts and a fearsome (terrible) law-enforcing body succeed in achieving a deeply unjust, unequal and oppressive society divided by class. The privileged people have access to it. Through a process of aggressive and clever brain-washing, it convinces the have-nots that they are being fairly treated. The son of an a rich family goes to the best schools, colleges and universities, gets the best of what the society can offer towards his upbringing, and he qualifies for the high level jobs in government, industry, and businesses and in public life. His mind gets trained to believe that he deserved the high status in society as much as he deserved the highly privileged upbringing in his early years. Thus, the historic injustice inbuilt in the system is never abolished.
They do not quite accept as to why they should get a smaller pie of the nation’s wealth compared to the ‘worthy’ citizens, whom they serve as servants, peasants, factory workers. If they express their bitterness openly and disruptive manner, they face the heavy hand of the law-enforcement arm of the government. The enslaved class given a chance they would vote against the system that inflicts (imposes) such injustice to them.
So far I have mentioned nothing but plain, ………………………………………. chemists exploit her too greedily.
Now, G. B. Shaw reflects on whatever he has said so far. He is aware of the fact that his views may not be quite agreeable to a good number of his listeners. So, he decides to be less aggressive in preaching what he believes. He is aware of the fact that radio talks are necessarily one-way communications giving no scope for argument. In such an environment, it is but natural that some listeners might be furious in disagreement.
He asserts that he does not want his talks to create controversies. He does not want to come to a summary or conclusion. As a word of advice, he tells his listeners that a certain degree of intelligence is needed to appreciate his arguments. A listener if he does not understand his words, is likely to draw dangerous conclusions from his arguments. That would be undesirable.
Ironically, Shaw argues that to be called a slave might be considered insulting by most citizens, but for running a society, slaves are necessary. It was the great philosopher Aristotle who maintained that slaves are essential for running governments with their system of law and order. In a government set-up, there are a few who occupy dignified positions whom the citizens obey. These privileged persons must have an feeling of superiority. How can this appearance be built? It can be done by making them look smart, powerful, special and very rich. They must dress well, eat well, speak with polished accents, live in mansions, move around in expensive cars, must not do any of their personal works themselves. Servants must cook his food, brush his dress and carry his bags. The under-privileged people are inclined to obey them. So, the creation of the special class of people with power necessitates creation of an army of slaves. You can make people obedient to authority only if they are trained to treat their superiors as lords.
And now to sum up. Wipe out……………………………………….. and disorder generally.
Here Shaw attempts to sum up his arguments. He feels that man can never be truly free because Nature takes out nearly 12 hours from a day’s 24 hours. He has to relax, sleep, and wash. In the rest 12 hours, he has to work either for himself in his own fields or for his employer to be able to earn a living.
In a civilized society, one has to abide by so many rules. Breaking of these rules invites the heavy hand of the police. Disobedience of rules and non-payment of government dues surely invites severe action that may mean imprisonment or even execution. However, society’s laws are not always undesirable. When applied uniformly, they prove to be boon rather than bane in one’s life.
But as society is constituted ……………………………………………..present benighted condition.
Shaw laments that in the present form and practice of society, the influence of the landlord and the employer may be overpowering. If you are a tenant, the landlord may compel you by ordering you to practice a certain religion, vote for a candidate of his choice. If you are an employee, the employer decides what uniform you will wear in the work place, how long you will work, or even the tenure of your job. He can dismiss you from service at his will, pushing you to the streets.
If the office/ factory hours are 12, you are left with no time for yourself because, the Nature has already claimed 12 hours. When pushed to a corner by the indifferent employer, you may approach your trade union for rights. The Union can call for a strike, but then that means no job and no income. Strike means no income and consequently starvation. The law of the land prevents any coercive protest near the employer’s place. So, as the protester, one has to move back to one’s home to suffer from hunger. A start of mass strike may appear quite forceful to compel the employer to compromise, but if the latter does not do so, then the workers have to suffer severely resulting starvation and even deaths.
If you work for just eight hours instead of 12, you are left with four hours for yourself. However, during this time you must not do anything against the laws of the land. If you want to spend this time reading a book or going to a film, you must afford to buy the book or the ticket to the movie. In either case you must have money to spare. More sadly, if your duty involves long manual slog (labour), you will return home to hit bed at the earliest. Then, the ‘free’ four hours goes for relaxation, not for recreation.
I take it, then, that nine out of ten of ..................................................................................wives.
Towards the end of his talk, Shaw assumes that nearly nine out of 10 citizens want freedom, and what to learn all about it from the radio, if possible. So, it is not a very practical solution, Shaw feels. He thinks the prevalent politics needs to be radically changed if true freedom can be made accessible to ordinary people. Till then, we should stop celebrating our freedom, which is misleading. Since the people in the lower level of British society had never experienced real freedom. Shaw suggests that ‘leisure’ is the nearest equivalent word of ‘freedom’. People should demand more money and more scope for leisure in exchange of a reasonable amount of work.
Shaw then expresses his disparagement for the system of elections and political parties. The talk of freedom and liberty are false speeches made by a parasitic political class, nicely disguised as a champion of justice and equality. The politician, in the true sense, is an anarchist who deserves to be prosecuted and punished rather than respected and trusted upon.
Shaw then reflects on the advice he has proffered – to demand more money and more leisure. He fears that most people can’t make judicious use of their new-found affluence and free hours. They will indulge in sinful ways and waste their riches. Even, some of them might be crippled by diseases that result from the excesses of luxury. One needs education and healthy conditioning of mind to make good use of wealth and leisure. He asks his listeners to choose between: a. Eight hours of daily work, higher earning and scope to retire at 45, Or
b. Four hours of work a day, but no scope for retirement till the age of 70In a lighter vein. Shaw asks his listeners to confide not in him but in their wives about their preferred choice in this riddle.
The End