The Marching Morons
E871839
"The Marching Morons" is a classic 1951 science fiction short story by Cyril M. Kornbluth that satirically depicts a future society overwhelmed by mass stupidity and the ethical dilemmas of an elitist solution.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Marching Morons canonical | 1 |
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
satirical work
ⓘ
science fiction short story ⓘ |
| author | Cyril M. Kornbluth NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
class division
ⓘ
elitism ⓘ ethical dilemmas ⓘ eugenics ⓘ mass stupidity ⓘ overpopulation ⓘ technocracy ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| depicts | a small intelligent elite managing a vast unintelligent majority ⓘ |
| explores |
consequences of long-term dysgenic trends
ⓘ
moral responsibility of intellectual elites ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn | Galaxy Science Fiction NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| form | prose fiction ⓘ |
| genre |
dystopian fiction
ⓘ
satire ⓘ science fiction ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeClassification | novelette ⓘ |
| hasCulturalImpact | frequently cited in discussions of intelligence and social policy in science fiction criticism ⓘ |
| hasMoralQuestion | Is it justifiable to commit mass murder to "improve" society? ⓘ |
| hasSubject |
mass media manipulation
ⓘ
propaganda ⓘ social engineering ⓘ |
| hasTitleCharacter | John Barlow NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influenced | later dystopian satire about mass media and stupidity ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| literaryMovement | Golden Age science fiction NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| mainCharacter | John Barlow NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| medium | magazine ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | third-person narration ⓘ |
| notableFor |
controversial depiction of eugenic ideas
ⓘ
darkly comic tone ⓘ early exploration of the "idiocracy" concept ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | English ⓘ |
| originalPublicationType | short story ⓘ |
| originalPublisher | Galaxy Science Fiction magazine NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| periodOfStoryPublication | post–World War II era ⓘ |
| plotSummary | A time-displaced con man proposes a genocidal solution to a future world overrun by unintelligent masses. ⓘ |
| protagonist | John Barlow NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| publicationDecade | 1950s ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1951 ⓘ |
| settingTime | far future ⓘ |
| targetAudience | adult readers ⓘ |
| tone |
cynical
ⓘ
darkly humorous ⓘ satirical ⓘ |
| wordCountApproximate | novelette length ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.