(The rebuttal first)
The fact is that, in the beginning, we all have an inner being (one person), and “everything out there”. Our awareness makes an artificial distinction of an inner world (“I”) from an outer world (Everything else…. society etc).
If our inner being gets fixated and caught up in our status in society (a reaching outward to OTHER persons/things, social status, fame, money/power), then yes, these four desires dominate us. ( = our modern “social media”)
As long as we think that we NEED (must have) this type of status, and that somehow obtaining that status will SATISFY our inner being, we will be slaves to these desires Bernard Shaw is referring to.
It IS possible to live life balanced, being centered in our inner person, while participating in (not NEEDING) everything the “outside” world has to give us.
If we get “caught” or “fixated” in NEEDING the things in the “outside” world, we end up with a sense of being lost.
We all find SOMETHING in our lives which can bring us back to the sense of “oh, there i am!”… and WHILE we have that “touchstone”, the sense of “need” disappears, and we are whole.
Reality is Dharma 