Forum Overview :: The Zionist Media Conspiracy
 
Ooh, that's a good one. Also: Harrison Bergeron. by Jerry Whorebach 12/13/2010, 6:52am PST
The first time I read Harrison Bergeron - as part of a language arts class in middle school - I took it at face value, as a caution against socialism, and assumed the author must be some kind of moron. It wasn't until years later, when I could put the story in context, that I realized Vonnegut was actually satirizing America's warped understanding of what socialism entails. Bergeron is essentially the Airplane! of objectivist literature, which I guess makes Vonnegut the Zucker Brothers of the literary world.

Scott Rothschild wrote:

Topeka — When the Kansas Supreme Court takes up the school finance case next week, it might well ponder a futuristic story from the 1960s by science fiction satirist Kurt Vonnegut.

Attorneys representing students from the Shawnee Mission district say the story "Harrison Bergeron" shows that a world of forced equality would be a nightmare, so unequal funding of public schools is OK.

Their legal brief says capping local taxes on schools was unconstitutional, and they cited the 1961 story, which depicts a future society where everyone is made equal by forcing impediments on anyone who is better.

"Nobody was smarter than anybody else," the attorneys quoted Vonnegut as writing. "Nobody was better looking than anybody else.

But in a telephone interview Wednesday, Vonnegut told the Journal-World that the students' attorneys may have misinterpreted his story.

"It's about intelligence and talent, and wealth is not a demonstration of either one," said Vonnegut, 82, of New York. He said he wouldn't want schoolchildren deprived of a quality education because they were poor.

"Kansas is apparently handicapping schoolchildren, no matter how gifted and talented, with lousy educations if their parents are poor," he said.
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        Yeah, or "In the Navy." NT by motherfuckerfoodeater 12/12/2010, 11:58am PST NEW
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    Any art that includes fascist imagery will invariably attract actual fascists. by Jerry Whorebach 12/12/2010, 2:43pm PST NEW
        Oh yeah, and Archie Bunker. NT by Jerry Whorebach 12/12/2010, 2:45pm PST NEW
        Starship Troopers NT by Entropy Stew 12/12/2010, 7:37pm PST NEW
            I don't think it was intended to be taken as satire by Vested Id 12/12/2010, 11:28pm PST NEW
                Son, do you have Asperger's? NT by Walter Mondale 12/13/2010, 1:19am PST NEW
                I don't think you know anything about the movie or Verhoeven. by Lizard_King 12/13/2010, 6:04am PST NEW
                    I don't think splicing "SATIRE" into every 24th frame could make it more obvious NT by Entropy Stew 12/13/2010, 8:55am PST NEW
                        I took the scene where the kids pound bugs while the riot cops bust a gut NT by literally as fuck, motherfucker 12/13/2010, 3:35pm PST NEW
                            Previous post author. by Gutsby 12/13/2010, 4:08pm PST NEW
                    Re: I don't think you know anything about the movie or Verhoeven. by Vested Id 12/13/2010, 4:16pm PST NEW
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        Rorschach. NT by Gutsby 12/13/2010, 1:18am PST NEW
            Ooh, that's a good one. Also: Harrison Bergeron. by Jerry Whorebach 12/13/2010, 6:52am PST NEW
                "Airplane! of objectivist literature" should get you an award or something NT by Lizard_King 12/14/2010, 6:36am PST NEW
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