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in hand。 But let the most obvious measure of justice be demanded by the
secretary of a Trade Union in terms which omit all expressions of
subservience； and it is with the greatest difficulty that the cooler…headed
can defeat angry motions that the letter be thrown into the waste paper
basket and the committee proceed to the next business。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
The Demagogue's Opportunity
And the employee has in him the same fierce impulse to impose his
will without respect for the will of others。 Democracy is in practice
nothing but a device for cajoling from him the vote he refuses to arbitrary
authority。 He will not vote for Coriolanus； but when an experienced
demagogue comes along and says； 〃Sir： _you_ are the dictator： the
voice of the people is the voice of God； and I am only your very humble
servant；〃 he says at once； 〃All right： tell me what to dictate；〃 and is
presently enslaved more effectually with his own silly consent than
Coriolanus would ever have enslaved him without asking his leave。 And
the trick by which the demagogue defeats Coriolanus is played on him in
his turn by _his_ inferiors。 Everywhere we see the cunning succeeding in
the world by seeking a rich or powerful master and practising on his lust
for subservience。 The political adventurer who gets into parliament by
offering himself to the poor voter； not as his representative but as his will…
less soulless 〃delegate；〃 is himself the dupe of a clever wife who
repudiates Votes for Women； knowing well that whilst the man is master；
the man's mistress will rule。 Uriah Heep may be a crawling creature； but
his crawling takes him upstairs。
Thus does the selfishness of the will turn on itself； and obtain by
flattery what it cannot seize by open force。 Democracy becomes the
latest trick of tyranny： 〃womanliness〃 becomes the latest wile of
prostitution。
Between parent and child the same conflict wages and the same
destruction of character ensues。 Parents set themselves to bend the will
of their children to their ownto break their stubborn spirit； as they call it…
…with the ruthlessness of Grand Inquisitors。 Cunning； unscrupulous
children learn all the arts of the sneak in circumventing tyranny： children
of better character are cruelly distressed and more or less lamed for life by
it。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Our Quarrelsomeness
As between adults； we find a general quarrelsomeness which makes
political reform as impossible to most Englishmen as to hogs。 Certain
sections of the nation get cured of this disability。 University men； sailors；
and politicians are comparatively free from it； because the communal life
of the University； the fact that in a ship a man must either learn to consider
others or else go overboard or into irons； and the habit of working on
committees and ceasing to expect more of one's own way than is included
in the greatest common measure of the committee； educate the will
socially。 But no one who has ever had to guide a committee of ordinary
private Englishmen through their first attempts at collective action； in
committee or otherwise； can retain any illusions as to the appalling effects
on our national manners and character of the organization of the home and
the school as petty tyrannies； and the absence of all teaching of self…
respect and training in self…assertion。 Bullied and ordered about； the
Englishman obeys like a sheep； evades like a knave； or tries to murder his
oppressor。 Merely criticized or opposed in committee； or invited to
consider anybody's views but his own； he feels personally insulted and
wants to resign or leave the room unless he is apologized to。 And his
panic and bewilderment when he sees that the older hands at the work
have no patience with him and do not intend to treat him as infallible； are
pitiable as far as they are anything but ludicrous。 That is what comes of
not being taught to consider other people's wills； and left to submit to them
or to over…ride them as if they were the winds and the weather。 Such a
state of mind is incompatible not only with the democratic introduction of
high civilization； but with the comprehension and maintenance of such
civilized institutions as have been introduced by benevolent and intelligent
despots and aristocrats。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
We Must Reform Society before we
can Reform Ourselves
When we come to the positive problem of what to do with children if
we are to give up the established plan； we find the difficulties so great that
we begin to understand why so many people who detest the system and
look back with loathing on their own schooldays； must helplessly send
their children to the very schools they themselves were sent to； because
there is no alternative except abandoning the children to undisciplined
vagabondism。 Man in society must do as everybody else does in his
class： only fools and romantic novices imagine that freedom is a mere
matter of the readiness of the individual to snap his fingers at convention。
It is true that most of us live in a condition of quite unnecessary inhibition；
wearing ugly and uncomfortable clothes； making ourselves and other
people miserable by the heathen horrors of mourning； staying away from
the theatre because we cannot afford the stalls and are ashamed to go to
the pit； and in dozens of other ways enslaving ourselves when there are
comfortable alternatives open to us without any real drawbacks。 The
contemplation of these petty slaveries； and of the triumphant ease with
which sensible people throw them off； creates an impression that if we
only take Johnson's advice to free our minds from cant； we can achieve
freedom。 But if we all freed our minds from cant we should find that for
the most part we should have to go on doing the necessary work of the
world exactly as we did it before until we organized new and free methods
of doing it。 Many people believed in secondary co…education （boys and
girls taught together） before schools like Bedales were founded： indeed
the practice was common enough in elementary schools and in Scotland；
but their belief did not help them until Bedales and St George's were
organized； and there are still not nearly enough co…educational schools in
existence to accommodate all the children of the parents who believe in
co…education up to university age； even if they could always afford the
fees of these exceptional schools。 It may be edifying to tell a duke that
our public schools are all wrong in their constitution and methods； or a
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
costermonger that children should be treated as in Goethe's Wilhelm
Meister instead of as they are treated at the elementary school at the corner
of his street； but what are the duke and the coster to do？ Neither of them
has any effective choice in the matter： their children must either go to
the schools that are； or to no school at all。 And as the duke thinks with
reason that his son will be a lout or a milksop or a prig if he does not go to
school； and the coster knows that his son will become an illiterate
hooligan if he is left to the streets； there is no real alternative for either of
them。 Child life must be socially organized： no p