“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”

Very true today. Just look at what we have elected to govern ourselves with lately.

If only possessing right discernment were a natural condition and a necessary concomitant of democratic rule.

The here "we", is a collective narrative negating any focus, conceptually, physically or otherwise, of each and every individual and his/her inalienable rights. Those minority victims (again in collectivist terms - a union, not united individuals) do not deserve totalitarian might makes right. The demonically subject "we" of the democracy here referenced is a god-like intangible phantasm that, by the laws of nature and of nature's God, is a destroyer of liberty, freedom, justice, prosperity and rights. The majority varies depending on the issue so eventually, I guess, most all get what they have participated in. Does the term "deserve" equate to "justice"?

Collectivist thought spoken in collectivist jargon.

Superman.....

GBS is regarded as a bit more than an Irish Comic Dramatist in his native Ireland. We get the politicians we deserve if we don't engage in the political process and at least get out and vote. Stand for something or fall for everything!