"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

Read the following science fiction piece by Kurt Vonnegut. We'll discuss the following questions in class:

1)      We currently have 27 amendments to our constitution.  What is the significance of Vonnegut saying it’s the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments that make everyone equal?  In other words, what might all those other amendments between now and 2081 have been for?

2)      Given the communications technology we have, anybody who wants to can probably get a decent idea of what’s happening—good or bad—all around the world.  We’re the first American generation in which even our poorer citizens have access to this kind of technology.  Does that affect our obligation to help those in need?  Put another way, can you think of a particular international problem that warrants more attention from the U.S., simply because we know about it?

3)      Going along with that, can you think of a particular problem that we should stay out of, due to how much it might cost us—essentially, a situation in which we must compromise our morals in some way?

4)      Let’s take that same line of thought and apply it to domestic policies—like the basic goal of ensuring equality for all.  The philosopher Frederick Nietzsche one said, “The thirst for equality can express itself either as a desire to draw everyone down to one's level, or to raise oneself and everyone else up.”  What’s the danger in aggressively trying to make everyone equal?

5)      Same topic, different angle—what’s the danger in taking no serious action to fight inequality?

6)      When Hazel suggests that George mess with his handicap, he says: “If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other people’d get away with it and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”  Remember what fallacy this is?  If you don’t know the name, just try to figure out the basic flaw in his logic.