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Reprint: Interview with George Bernard Shaw, by Johannes Steel, July 19, 1948.
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| − | Dapper and spry in a brown tweed suit with knickerbockers and brown brogues with a most elegant polish, Shaw settled back in his chair with obvious satisfaction at having got it off his chest. I was fascinated by his clear, bell-like voice and his cheerful manner of a man who still gets a lot of fun out of life. | + | Dapper and spry in a brown tweed suit with knickerbockers and brown brogues with a most elegant polish, Shaw settled back in his chair with obvious satisfaction at having got it off his chest. I was fascinated by his clear, bell-like voice and his cheerful manner of a man who still gets a lot of fun out of life. |
| − | "What do you think of the foreign policy of the United States?" I asked him. He shot out the answer, "Foreign policy? America has no foreign policy...they are groping in the dark, there is a lot of confusion..." | + | "What do you think of the foreign policy of the United States?" I asked him. He shot out the answer, "Foreign policy? America has no foreign policy...they are groping in the dark, there is a lot of confusion..." |
| − | Warming to his subject, he added "War between the United States and the Soviet Union would RUIN both of them, would RUIN THEM BOTH. Furthermore it would bankrupt the United States before it starts; the United States would have to pay for the rest of the world to go to war along with it. Certainly England couldn't pay for it." He was equally prompt in answering my question " | + | Warming to his subject, he added "War between the United States and the Soviet Union would RUIN both of them, would RUIN THEM BOTH. Furthermore it would bankrupt the United States before it starts; the United States would have to pay for the rest of the world to go to war along with it. Certainly England couldn't pay for it." He was equally prompt in answering my question "How can the relations between the two countries best be improved?" I had hardly finished when he shot back, "How, how can there be any relationship between one set of facts, namely the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the abuse and slander that have been heaped upon that country for the past twenty years. The misinformation about the Soviet Union in the USA is colossal. America must first better inform herself. The Soviet Union is a great experiment. Social changes are difficult; they cannot be achieved by a stroke of the pen. It takes time; you cannot have feudalism on Monday, revolution on Tuesday and Socialism on Wednesday. Take the American Revolution: the Declaration of Independence was followed by the revolution; the forms were changed, but it didn't bring democracy, did it?" |
| − | The old gentleman was obviously enjoying himself. He accompanied his question with a real wink and went right on: "Stalin has a difficult task; all men of intelligence, all socialists should support him." | + | The old gentleman was obviously enjoying himself. He accompanied his question with a real wink and went right on: "Stalin has a difficult task; all men of intelligence, all socialists should support him." |
| − | There was hardly a pause as he went on: "Improve relations...the trouble with the world is its bad manners. Take Bevin for instance...just another Bismarck." And here Shaw broke into perfect and emphatic German "Nach Moskau gehen wir night." ( | + | There was hardly a pause as he went on: "Improve relations...the trouble with the world is its bad manners. Take Bevin for instance...just another Bismarck." And here Shaw broke into perfect and emphatic German "Nach Moskau gehen wir night." (We won't go to Moscow.) "Just like Bismarck," he went on. "Why not talk decently to the Russians? Take Robertson and Clay in Berlin for instance. |
Revision as of Apr 6, 2015 1:25:13 PM
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Dapper and spry in a brown tweed suit with knickerbockers and brown brogues with a most elegant polish, Shaw settled back in his chair with obvious satisfaction at having got it off his chest. I was fascinated by his clear, bell-like voice and his cheerful manner of a man who still gets a lot of fun out of life.
"What do you think of the foreign policy of the United States?" I asked him. He shot out the answer, "Foreign policy? America has no foreign policy...they are groping in the dark, there is a lot of confusion..."
Warming to his subject, he added "War between the United States and the Soviet Union would RUIN both of them, would RUIN THEM BOTH. Furthermore it would bankrupt the United States before it starts; the United States would have to pay for the rest of the world to go to war along with it. Certainly England couldn't pay for it." He was equally prompt in answering my question "How can the relations between the two countries best be improved?" I had hardly finished when he shot back, "How, how can there be any relationship between one set of facts, namely the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the abuse and slander that have been heaped upon that country for the past twenty years. The misinformation about the Soviet Union in the USA is colossal. America must first better inform herself. The Soviet Union is a great experiment. Social changes are difficult; they cannot be achieved by a stroke of the pen. It takes time; you cannot have feudalism on Monday, revolution on Tuesday and Socialism on Wednesday. Take the American Revolution: the Declaration of Independence was followed by the revolution; the forms were changed, but it didn't bring democracy, did it?"
The old gentleman was obviously enjoying himself. He accompanied his question with a real wink and went right on: "Stalin has a difficult task; all men of intelligence, all socialists should support him."
There was hardly a pause as he went on: "Improve relations...the trouble with the world is its bad manners. Take Bevin for instance...just another Bismarck." And here Shaw broke into perfect and emphatic German "Nach Moskau gehen wir night." (We won't go to Moscow.) "Just like Bismarck," he went on. "Why not talk decently to the Russians? Take Robertson and Clay in Berlin for instance.