Monday, January 3, 2011

Are We Becoming Robots?

How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"? Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion.

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64 comments:

  1. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -I think Kurt's attitude towards the future is very dark. It seems unhappy if people are wearing handicap bags and have mental handicaps in their ears.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    -I do not think that we are growing into this society because we still have a lot of inequality. We still have rich and poor, smarter and dumber, stronger and weaker, faster and slower, taller and shorter.

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  2. Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"?

    *I think that our 2011 society is in ways growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron".
    People are using Google for everything; research, homework, looking things up or just wondering around the web. Things like technology is addicting but i don't think it will become a problem like how "Harrison Bergeron" depicted it.

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  3. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    - I think that Kurt's attitude towards our future is very negative and bleak. It seems as if he thinks that the world is going to be taken over and we will not be people anymore. They will have to live with disabilities because they are better.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    - In my opinion I don't no think that we are growing into that type of society we still have people in the world that are much different from each other. Also people that are better fit for certain things than others but everyone has a place in society were they can succeed and become something.

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  4. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    - Kurt Vonnegut does not have a very positive outlook on the future in his short story, "Harrison Bergeron". He thinks that everyone will be equal one way or another and no one will be unique.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    - I do not think that our society is headed in the direction depicted in "Harrison Bergeron". We are still very much different from one another in every aspect of our lives. That is an extreme form of communism and I do not believe that we will ever be communist and if we are, not to that extreme.

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  5. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -I think that he feels as though there can't be a variety of different people in order to have a well functioning scociety. He has this overwhelming urge to make every one be the same.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    -I absolutley belive that we are almost the exact opposite of what Kurt Vonnegut is becoming of our scociety. We want people to be different and in some cases we encourage it.

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  6. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron" ?
    - i think that Kurt's outlook is dark because he want everybody to be the same in every way.

    do you think that our 2011 society is growing depicted in "Harrison Bergeron'? Why or why not?
    i think that we are not like "Harrison Bergeron" becuase were are all our own person and that is far different from "Harrison Bergeron".

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  7. I think that Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future is very unlikely and I think that it will probably never happen. I think that it is unrealistic that all things can be equal. For example, look, appearence, ability and other things. I think that this is a dark topic because the things he imagines and the ways to make people equal is creul.

    I think that our society today has almost no chance of becoming the society discribed in the story "Harrison Bergeron". Today the government is making no attempt to make everyone physically equal; so, right now it seems impossible to have that big of change.

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  8. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    I would describe his attitude towards the future as a negative view. He is describing everyone as the same or handicapped so that they are the same. He is saying that the future will be a communist society.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    I don't think that our society in America is becoming like the society in "Harrison Bergeron" because of how much competition we have. For example the competition between superstores like Wal-mart and Target. Also monopoly is illegal so the idea of competition will never leave America.

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  9. Will our society become what Harrison Bergeron said?
    I think our society will not turn out that way as fast as the video today had said. But if we dont do something about technology turning into bad like Irobot than yes we will.

    How is Harrison Bergeron perspective on this?
    I think its not good but maybe right. I dont think an iRobot will happen but something bad could happen.

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  10. I would describe his attitude towards the future very pessimistic and gloomy. In a world where every one is equal, literally, there is no competition for sources. And then America would lose its democracy. Which would be bad.


    I don't think our society is growing into that depicted in "Harrison Bergeron" or it ever will be. I think that the society depicted is just an extreme exaggeration of what the world is heading too. It will never be like that. I agree with what JD said about a monopoly. If monopoly is illegal, then we could never move towards a communist like culture.

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  11. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -Kurt's view of the future is definitely a very dark, very sad future. The idea that others are forced to be average is bad for our society.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -No. I do not believe so and my reason why is because I think our country understands that to make our society function correctly, there does have to be some people who are above average. If there wasn't, we wouldn't be as advanced as we are now.

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  12. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"? Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion.

    1. Kurts attitude twoards the future in this story is dark and scary. Everything is messed up and making all people equal.

    2. No i dont think our society is growing into that, because there is no regulations so far on looks or physical attributes.

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  13. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"? Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion.

    1. In, Harrison Burgeron, Kurt Vonnegut seems to say that having everyone be equal would be horrible. I think he believes that our differences are what make us human, and to be handicapped because your different is not the way of the world.

    2. I don't think the human race will ever quite get to the point in the story. People are still unequal and probably always will be. There's nothing wrong with that.

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  14. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    It seems like his view towards our future is that it is going downhill, and that many things will change in a bad way.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion.

    I don't think our society will ever get as manipulated as the society in "Harrison Bergeron", there will always be differences in people, and there is no reason to make everyone completely the same.

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  15. - I beleive that Kurt vonneguts mind has been darkened and because of this he wants everyone to be equal and so nobody can be better.

    - as time goes by i beleive that no one will ever be equal to one another. Thats what makes sports and other entertainments interesting. because people are better or able to do more with what they persue

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  16. Class Post: "How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"? Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion."


    Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Harrison Bergeron, paints a picture of a dark and gloomy future with little to no hope left in the people. He shows how the government tries to create everybody equal by tying weights to the people faster and stronger than average or putting a buzzing radio inside their ear which cuts more intelligent thoughts short and scatters your brains mental tracks. Also, there is the ugly mask in which more good-looking people must wear this to disguise their more charming looks that are above average. But the story never tells how the government lives or how poorly, or good, the Handicapped Generals live who enforce the rules of average. I believe, in a way, this has society has a communism structure to it because everyone is becoming equal. I say that our society will not become more like the communistic future depicted in the story of Harrison Bergeron because the people will not let it happen. Everyone is unique and different and that is what sets us apart. Someone is always smarter, faster or stronger than some of their peers but not all. Lastly, everyone has the willingness to compete with one another to be better than them in some situations in which I consider that to be our human nature.

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  17. I think that Kurt Vonnegut's opinion on how the future will look is hopeless and unhappy. The people that he is talking about are not miserable they just cant experience true happiness because they are all equal, with devices to make them that way.

    In my opinion, todays society is not and will not turn out as depicted in "Harrison Bergeron." I think our society will keep growing smarter and so will our technology but I do not for see any major changes in business happening unless it is for the better. People may be greedy but i do not think people could be greedy enough depend on machines and robots to there jobs for them so that they could rake in the money and in doing so change the world and economy that we live in for good. I believe that our advances in technology and other things can only contribute and help our world today.
    But you never know, people will believe anything.

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  18. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -I think that Kurt Vonnegut's attitude toward the future is that we are trying to become less a democracy but more equal as in a communist country like Russia. The good thing about this is everyone has an equal life and will not become better than one another but the bad thing is that some people have so much potential to do more and will not be rewarded for it.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    No, because we have a system of government that is not controlled by one person or group but instead 3 different groups. We know them as the 3 branches of government. If something was wrong with this system then maybe our future may turn out this way, but I do think that the things that are being created now are technology that we benifit from and we use everyday and could possibly take the human activities we do today away from us.

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  19. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude toward the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    - Well I would describe Kurt's attitude toward the future as kind of like he doesn't like the way humans are and he thinks that we will all turn into a comunist type of country and government. Like in "Harrison Bergeron" Harrison carries around a lot of weight so that he is no faster than anyone elso so that seems like comunism to me.


    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not? Try to be specific as you defend your opinion.
    - I am torn between yes and no and this is why. I say no because America has always tried to be none comunist and I believe that we will stick to that. The reason I would say yes though is because we might have a leader in the future that likes the comunist thing and might do something like this society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron". For the most part though I say no our society is not headed this way from what I have seen today and in the past.

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  20. I think Kurt Vonnegut opinion toward the future is far-fetched and unrealistic. It the end of the story when Harrison dies, Hazel and George have no emotion toward what happened and do not think about seeing their son die on live television. Also, they seem to not be able to think for themselves and don't make sense of anything that happens around them. In the story, Vonnegut makes the society sound controlled. I think a society without flaws and achievements would never succeed.

    I do not think our society is moving toward the society in the story. People still use technology but unless they let it control their life and let the technology think for them society will not become like the story's. Also, people that are a higher status or greater athlete allow competition and motivation to compete.

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  21. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future isn't a bright one. He thinks that everyone in the future is going to have to be equal and live like less unfortunate people.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    -I think our society isn't growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron" because the majority of people wouldn't want to live with the disabilities of others and there would have to be laws set in place. It would be to much work to live with the disabilities of others.

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  22. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -I think his attitude towards the future in Harrison Bergeron is quite negative. He believes we will live in a distopia, where everything would be TOO equal, leading to many poor causes for the human race.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -Possibly. If there keep on being new laws for equality then something quite like what is depicted in the story could actually happen. However, I also believe a lot of people would not agree with EVERYTHING being equal, so they might veto that law or amendment.

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  23. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -Kurt Vonnegut's attitude twards the future in "Harrison Bergeron" i think is almost jealous that there are people that are better than him and he wishes that in the furure that everyone can be the same
    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    -i do not think that our 2011 society is growing to be like the one in "Harrison Bergeron" because people like the competition of being better than everyone else in a way.

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  24. Kurt Vonnergut's attitude toward the future in Harrison Bergeron is bleak, everything is boring and almost just to average, there is no color or difference, and people are handicapped for what advantages they were born with.

    I dont think our future is headed the way depicted in the story, even though im pretty sure we are headed in a bad direction anyways. people will never want to be the same as each other, being different is what makes us human, what makes us likeable and unique from one another, and if you take that away, you take away what most people value most, their personalities.

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  25. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?
    -Kurt Vonnegut's outlook on the future is pesimistic and dark. He most likely feels that we are drifting towards a socialist world and needed to make sure he was drastic in his writing to make his opinion expressed.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?
    -I think in a way our society is begining to change in the direction that is predicted by Vonnegut because people natural genetics may become out dated by new advances that allow parents to customize traits for their children, allowing them to be smarter, faster, and taller.

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  26. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?

    Kurts attitude towards to future is positive and unlike to happen, yes alot of people use Google but there are many other company's out there.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?

    I dont think our society is growing much like Kurt said, our society is to used to our environment and it would big to much of a change to happen.

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  27. I think that with the way that everyone is created equal and that that we are the computer age we just rely on what people tell us. We never do our own research and just let people tell us what is best so i think our 2011 society is becoming the "Harrison Bergeron"

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  28. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?

    I think Kurt Vonnegut sees the future as this dark place where everyone is forced to be the same.He sees the future as a socialistic environment where no person can use the skills your born with.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?

    I don't think our society will ever reach this point because we have people like Kurt Vonnegut who see what could be and inform people through stories like this.

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  29. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?

    1. Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron" is very depressing and sad. He sees the future where no one can be an individual and be allowed to think for themselves.

    Do you think our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?

    2. No, it is impossible to make everybody the same. In order for a society to function properly, we need certain people to excel at what they are good at so we can continue to grow.

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  30. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in "Harrison Bergeron"?

    Kurt vonnegut's attitude toward Harrison Bergeron is not right because he wants to bring his level of athleticism and intelligence down to everyones level. It is not fair to make someone gifted suffer.

    Do you think that our 2011 society is growing into the society depicted in "Harrison Bergeron"? Why or why not?

    Yes because at the rate that technology is growing and evolving is kind of scary to see where we will end up in a few years.

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  31. How would you describe Kurt Vonnegut's attitude towards the future in Harrison Bergeron?

    1. Kurt has a very dark and scary perspective of the future. Everybody should not be the same, if everyone was equale then no one would have to compete to be better than another, and the competitiveness in people to be better is what makes a good and free society, when everyone is the same it would be like communism.

    2.I don't think the world will ever get to this point and hope it never does form this communism society like it did in Harrison Bergeron.

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  32. 1."Synchronizing their heartbeats with it" is very important because it shows that this is something Harrison truly cares about with his heart in order to save humanity

    2. Did anybody realize what Harrison was doing and try to carry on the rebel attitude against the handicapper generals?
    I don't think anyone even comprehended what was going on because of the devices

    3. This story picks up and brings the reader hope that this future world will change and Harrison will lead a rebellion against the handicapper devices but then all hope fades as Harrison and the ballerina get shot and it seems as though this future is inevitable with the way that we are headed.

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  33. how dose a person change after their personality is striped ?

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  34. What is average and who decides what it is?

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  35. What does the ear piece symbolize in “Harrison Bergeron?”
    On page 5 when Harrison says “Now watch me become what i can become.”
    what can you infer by this statement?

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  36. On page 5 when Harrison says, “Now watch me become what I can become” what can you infer by this statement?

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  37. Do you think Harrison was trying to prove a point be doing what he did? If so, what do you think he was trying to prove?

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  38. Luc--

    Competition is how we determine ones rank in society. Life is a competition. We are all trying to gain something in life, and usually we have to fight for it.

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  39. - Luc
    I think that competition is a great thing because that is simply human nature. Without it, we as Americans would not be where we are today because competition has gotten us so far.

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  40. Logan i feel like it would be easier to bring the advanced people down than it would be to bring lower people up.

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  41. Luc,
    I think that competition is a good thing because without competition, everyone will be equal and it is impossible to make everyone equal. To make everyone equal, you would have to change all their characteristics and change who a person is. We need different people so that our society can be successful and grow.

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  42. Gabe s:
    I think everyone is equal so no one feels weaker or left out. I also think that the handicapped general is power crazy and somehow got control.

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  43. Making people wear masks because they look better makes it more unequal because if your one without a mask then you know your the "ugly" one or an "average" person.

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  44. LucC - Competition is a good thing because we need constant improvement. Competition drives people to become better at sports, academics, and etc. If we didn't have competition we wouldn't be able to exceed in sports and academics. We need competition to have a better future.

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  45. John-

    What is average and who decides what it is?

    I think that the idea of average is different to everybody. Some think that the average is different the other people think. in the story the government decides who and what is average but in the real world I think that it is very hard to determine what average is.

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  46. Lane what I infer from that statement is that because Harrison has been weighted down and made a lot more average he wants to do to his best ability so when he takes off his weights he can do his best ability and thats what i infer from that.

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  47. Tristin said...

    Do you think Harrison was trying to prove a point be doing what he did? If so, what do you think he was trying to prove?

    i think that he tried to prove that no matter what people tell you what to do you can always rise above everthing.

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  48. Is competition a good thing? Luc C
    I think that competition is a necessary part of our society because without competition nobody would be able to be the best and nobody would ever know the feeling of failure.

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  49. I believe competition is healthy for people. It makes people work harder to be a better person and who they want be. In oder to be happy in life. Competition doesnt just have to be in sports, it comes in jobs and grades and anything you can think of. Taking this away, i believe can hurt a nation and cause corruption. Communism fallows this. Taking away freedom.

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  50. JD: good point when you said that if you made everybody advanced the people could over throw the government, when people are all dumb they can't think of how to.

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  51. I feel like in the story when they make everyone "equal" its bad for everyone. If someone is better than you at something than they could try to help you,teach you or you could learn off their ways. Instead they bring people down so the society isn't ever going to be "equal" in a good way to make the society great.

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  52. Luc

    Is competition a good thing?

    I think competition is a good thing because with out competition sports wouldnt be fun to watch or play and i believe it also human nature to try to be better than others

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  53. Ty-
    From that statement, I think Harrison is trying to say that we all are more than they make us. Now watch me be what I was supposed to be, instead of what they make me be. Kind of like watch me reach my full potential.

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  54. Zach-

    a person completely changes after their personatlity is stripped from them, it is what makes them them, and if you take that away, you basically change them into something completely different.

    John N-


    There is no average, and no one can decide what it is. Everyone is different, and with all the difference in the world you cannot have an average because you cannot compare people that are all different from one another.

    Ty-

    The ear piece symbolizes unhappyness, how they are trying to make everyone average, and that creates an unhappy place to live and grow in.

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  55. Luc-
    Competition is a good thing. Competition is what fuels the democracy of America. If everyone is competing to be the best at what they do, our society will flourish. But when competition is eliminated, then the society will become weak, thats when the government has to intervene and we would become a communist country. Which is what it is like in "Harrison Bergeron".

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  56. What do you think the ear piece symbolizes in Harrison Bergeron?

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  57. Do "average" people like Hazel, realize that the other people like Harrison are being treated unfairly?

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  58. Thomas:
    I do think competition is a good thing because that is what drives life and spirit is the urge to compete with one another.

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  59. Competition is necessary for the advancement of our society. we need people to compete, it gives us the best and the brightest people to run our country and our businesses, and it also is part of our humanity. We need to compete, it is the reason we have wars, sports, etc... humans feel the need to show their strengths and weaknesses, it makes them feel good about themselves.

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  60. Kiely,
    I agree with what you said about if you strip somebody's personality, you strip their identity and change everything about that person.I don't think that is right, because your personality is who you are.

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  61. Luc- Is competition a good thing?

    I thing competition is usually a good thing, because it drives people to move on, and pushes the society to progress. It sometimes can necessarily be a bad thing but in most cases it is not.

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  62. I think that hazel does notice other people like Harrison being treated unfairly because it's obvious when someone is wearing a bag or mask. I think she feels equal and not like an outcast.

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