How to make people be equal ???

[gb1708]

I have read story " Harrison Bergeron" again and one opinion comes through my head. Instead of making people from high level to low level , why don't the government make people from low level to high level???
The government can offer standard of perfection and make everybody become that standard. That they can force all of people to study, practice, surgery to become more intelligent,strong, beautiful or make good machine to raise their level instead of low it down,etc.... Even the deaf, blind, diseased people that the government still can treat them and then make them become this standard. I think those people will appreciate, thank to the government.
I think if all people is equally in perfection that the world will develop strongly and good for every body. What do you think ? Is this opinion is possible ?

[KevinW]

It could be that they lack the tools to restore the blind and deaf and defective, and no cure for intelligence.

It would also be difficult to control a horde of intelligent people. They will want freedom when they look back in time to history of the early 21st century.


In our society though...
We're heading there, believe it or not, in our current world. We are coming close to the technological singularity, where everyone will be wealthy, none starving, and soon everyone superintelligent. Human society as we know it will collapse, and emerge from it a better world like we've never seen before.

[linnie]

I think the idea is great, but I don't think it will really work out.

If everyone is intelligent, as Kevin has said, it will be hard to control multitude of intelligent people. The leader of the society will have hard time control people and set laws if people are intelligent. those people can protest against government, rebel and many other things that government won't like will happen. To make everyone intelligent or perfect, the leader has to be way smarter than other normal citizens to rule over people. That is already creating inequality. Also it is easier to rule "average" intelligence in the story than perfect people.

I wish there is balance in equality, so it is not too extreme like this story. If everyone is perfectly equal, that will cause many other problems. (For more information, read previous topics)

[nadiraamalina]

The government could at least have made their people into capable, functioning individuals to The country's progress could grind to a halt without capable people to keep it running, and since the book makes no mention of any people with superior abilities working in the government, we can assume that the only person without handicaps is the Handicapper General. Also, the story is set nearly 70 years into the future. If they have the means to handicap some otherwise extraordinary individuals, they should be able to at least raise the intelligence of those unlucky enough to be born rather slow, or create some sort of diet or training regime for physically challenged people.

[gb1708]

Yeahh!!! I have thought about it again and i agree with you guy. If people will become intelligent that the government is really hard to control them. I mentioned about the standard of perfection that means except intelligence, strength, beauty ... people also have good character as good single behavior. The government can build Practice Center to make every people become this standard from baby to adult. As Kelvin said, if people can do it that the perfect world will come out.

[sazad100]

I don't think the idea of making people more superior is going to work.

Because if people are more intelligent then they will be able to understand everything that is wrong by the government and they will oppose them and protest against the government if they don't like anything as a result there will be an unstable Government and a bad country to live in. People with higher intelligent tend to question anything they see. and if everybody is equal in everything then what is the use of that specialty.

[irin]

I think it is hard everbody will become equal. If everbody is intelligent people will against the government because some government doing wrong things so people will know how they can protest by government so government won't like will happen. And they will not have great person or ruler or government because everybody is intelligent.

[esther]

I agree with Irin. I think either way; making low standards to high standards or making high standards to low standards is very hard for a government to do. If low standards become high standards, there will be too many intelligent, strong, pretty, and handsome people, which can lead to competitions. Also if high standards to go low standards, there won't be any development to the country. So, I think there is no way to make everybody equal and happy.

[jooyoungpark]

At first look, this idea seem possible, however if you think about it more and more the idea just becomes impossible.
Looking back at our history, human's wants have always been endless. If humans are truly equal like in "Harrison Bergeron," and in a way where equal is in a higher status, it will never work, because humans will want more intelligence. They would want more understanding of everything in the world. For people who have high intelligence, a little miss understanding can lead to more curiosity, which will lead to inequality eventually.

[elisalee]

I hope this happens to the government in this story instead of making high people to low level. However, I think this would cause serious money problem. There are many intelligent and good looking people in this world, but there are also many low level people. To make those people to the standard level, the government would have to use a lot of money for those people. It is not that the government in the story has the right thought, but I think that it is not a best idea.

[woojongpark]

Hearing the opinions about standards of equality makes me think of the"Procrustean bed". Have you guys ever heard of this Greek myth? It's a story about a person named Procrustes who cuts people's leg if their legs are longer than his bed and stretches people who are shorter than the bed. I found this story somewhat similar to the situation of Harrison Bergeron because people who are better are limited in this story.

I think it is impossible to "stretch people to make them fit inside the box" or "squeeze people inside the box". Like what Lin said, the idea of making a high standard for everyone is good, but it's impossible to carry out because everyone has different limits and talents. Whether the hurdle is high or low, there will always be people who are dissatisfied.

[junilee26]

I'm confused about the fact that we are "trying" to make the society equal. Our ancestors have started racism, sexism, and all kinds of other inequalities. All these inequalities have started very long time ago and I believe it is a hard thing to fix. When we walk on the streets, when we meet someone new, when we pick the person we love/like. We mostly judge them by their outside and not by their inside. This has been a thing that's been going around for more than thousands of years. Racism, sexism, judging by the outside I think is the most pathetic thing a person can do. I might sound harsh but that's what I believe. I love everyone. I love every race, gender and no matter how they are like. I have hatred towards someone if they have done anything to me or have got on my nerves.

[james]

I agreed with you. I thought of that too. At first, I thought it is so stupid to make intelligent people or better people to normal people. Instead, with those technologies that can make the better people down, why didn't they make the averages or lower ones to better ones? However, on the other hand, I think the government or the leader didn't want them to be smarter than them. Because the leaders must be better than the people who are being leaded. Which is pretty stupid. So my opinion is just let it be, let them be who they are and get rid of that stupid law. And lastly, what I wondered is that why didn't they make ugly(no offense) people to be looking better? instead of making "good looking people" to wear weird, ugly, and stupid mask in their face.. that's the point I don't get..

[jisu25]

Trying people to be equal is probably impossible because somewhere in the world, there is always at least somebody who desires for power. Kings, queens, or even the government are people or an organization with power more than people from any other class. Maybe with these people were all gone; however we need a government to keep people orgnized in society through things called laws.

[sergeyfen]

I think the main point in the story is that everyone has different views on high and low levels. For general handicap the way he setted his world was average to him and didnt seem low or high. Everybody is different and obviously everyone has different view on how everything works, so it was normal for general handicapto set level as he did in the story because probably its his average.