Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" (short story, satire, free): An extreme version of the idea of "equal opportunity"

What if everyone was made equal by

1. Dumbing down the smart,
2. Weakening the strong,
3. Uglifying the beautiful,
4. ... ?

In this story, this is done forcibly, via the office of "United States Handicapper General", until people have come to accept the idea as normal! Title is the name of a teenage rebel who will meet a sad end.

I can see something familiar in this very beautiful dark satire. And I guess readers from other countries will, too.

See also.

1. William Tenn's "Null-P": Another political satire where everyone is an intellectual equal.
2. Ted Chiang's "Liking What You See: A Documentary": What if you can no longer see either beauty or ugliness in a human face?

Both these have far less drastic impact than Vonnegut's version.

Fact sheet.

First published: F&SF, October 1961.
Rating: A.
Download full text from West Valley College, or from ToDay's MeNu. [first link via Best Science Fiction Stories]
Movie adaptations: Chandler Tuttle's "2081" (2009); Bruce Pittman's "Harrison Bergeron" (1995, TV); Patrick Horne's "Harrison Bergeron" (2006, short film).
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.