The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism
by Bernard Shaw
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As a Fabian and lifelong socialist, Shaw believed that economic inequality was a poison destroying every aspect of our lives. Family affections and relations between the sexes were perverted by it. From Parliament to eduction our institutions were corrupted at the root by pecuniary interest. Idealism, integrity and piecemeal attempts at political reform were all futile in the face of the gross injustice built into our economic system. And because a capitalist economy could never function show more smoothly, private property was not merely a form of robbery, but robbery with violence. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
As a Fabian and lifelong socialist, Shaw believed that economic inequality was a poison destroying every aspect of our lives. Family affections and relations between the sexes were perverted by it. From Parliament to eduction our institutions were "corrupted at the root by pecuniary interest". Idealism, integrity and piecemeal attempts at political reform were all futile in the face of the gross injustice built into our economic system. And because a capitalist economy could never function smoothly, private property was not merely a form of robbery, but robbery with violence. Published in 1928 when Shaw was 72, this book draws on decades of political activity and remains one of his brilliant exercises in propoganda.
This timeless book, published in 1927, is the solution to rising college tuition fees. For a complete liberal arts education, look no further than this 500 page treatise in economics, political science, history, sociology, ethics; in short all of what constitutes a basic college education. It is all delivered to you with engaging Shavian wit and makes your college experience brief, economical, and utterly painless. For your diploma you can simply print out and post your review of this awesome work on the www for all to see and then mail out copies of your resume with the absolute confidence that you’ll ace every job interview with erudition and grace. Shaw purportedly spent 5 years in compiling and organizing this analysis of the show more society we live in, what has kept it moving along, and how we can live within it to our advantage and even change it for the better. It is an astonishing literary achievement, quite as accessible to intelligent gentlemen as it is to the intelligent ladies to whom it is affectionately addressed. High school grads! Forget about years of loan payments, midnight oil, and eight-o’clocks. Just read this book, and apply for those jobs miles ahead of your plodding and soon-to-be impoverished peers. show less
While the title may seem patronizing, the text is pure dynamite! Shaw explains that if this book is in the house, the husband will pick it up and read it, as well, because it deals with the basic questions that all people living in capitalism ask, and need answers for. This book was reviewed and not for the first time since its publication in 1928, on Friday October 12, 2012, in the "Guardian" newspaper in Britain.
After every major economic downturn, this book is reviewed somewhere, because it s still relevant, 87 years after publication. We haven't fixed Capitalism to meet the critique mounted in this book, and if capitalism is the answer to all the world's problems, as we are constantly told, we should have. if you are looking for a show more very clear and concise explanation of how the world works even in 2014, this is the book. Most Americans should read the chapter on banking first. After that, you won't put the book down. And your worldview will have changed.
I reread the book in September 2020, and though some of Shaw's solutions did not work out in practice, the bulk of the work still has possibilities. And the prose is crisp and literate. show less
After every major economic downturn, this book is reviewed somewhere, because it s still relevant, 87 years after publication. We haven't fixed Capitalism to meet the critique mounted in this book, and if capitalism is the answer to all the world's problems, as we are constantly told, we should have. if you are looking for a show more very clear and concise explanation of how the world works even in 2014, this is the book. Most Americans should read the chapter on banking first. After that, you won't put the book down. And your worldview will have changed.
I reread the book in September 2020, and though some of Shaw's solutions did not work out in practice, the bulk of the work still has possibilities. And the prose is crisp and literate. show less
You don't have to understand shaw to enjoy him.
Funniest index of all time.
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Best Books of 1926-1935
403 works; 10 members
The Non-Dramatic Works of Bernard Shaw
34 works; 1 member
EGBERTINA'S List of childhood books worthy of merit or unspeakable delight
155 works; 6 members
Publisher's Weekly NON-Fiction list - 1912 - 1975
486 works; 4 members
Author Information
Renowned literary genius George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. He later moved to London and educated himself at the British Museum while several of his novels were published in small socialist magazines. Shaw later became a music critic for the Star and for the World. He was a drama critic for the Saturday Review and show more later began to have some of his early plays produced. Shaw wrote the plays Man and Superman, Major Barbara, and Pygmalion, which was later adapted as My Fair Lady in both the musical and film form. He also transformed his works into screenplays for Saint Joan, How He Lied to Her Husband, Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, and Major Barbara. Shaw won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. George Bernard Shaw died on November 2, 1950 at Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Pelican Books (A1)
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1928
- Dedication
- To my sister-in-law Mary Stewart Cholmondley the intelligent woman to whose question this book is the best answer I can make
- First words
- It would be easy, dear madam, to refer you to the many books on modern Socialism which have been published since it became a respectable constitutional question in this country in the eighteen-eighties.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)By such ladies and their sons can the human race be saved, and not otherwise.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This work was published in 1928 as The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism. For the 1937 Pelican edition the title was changed to The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism, ... (show all)and Fascism.
This edition gathers into a single edition the two parts first published as Pelican A1 and A2. Do not combine with individual constituent volumes.
Classifications
- Genres
- Economics, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Philosophy, Sexuality and Gender Studies
- DDC/MDS
- 330.12 — Society, government, & culture Economics Jobs & Careers Theory Systems
- LCC
- HX246 .S53 — Social sciences Socialism. Communism. Anarchism Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 418
- Popularity
- 74,045
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- 6 — English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 19
- ASINs
- 21
