The story was brief, only six pages long, and amazingly prescient. Here's the opening:
The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.You can read the rest of the story here.
Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.
It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter.
Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
It has always been a goal of the left to do away with merit, which is today labeled a symptom of white supremacy, and force everyone onto the same level. Everyone must be equal whether it be in terms of academics, income, parent/child relationships, and in "every which way."
We don't yet have the equivalent of a "Handicapper General" but if it were ever up to our leftist friends, we probably would, and a lot sooner than 2081, too.
