Project Gutenberg 2016-02-16 Public domain in the USA. 11034 Kornbluth, C. M. (Cyril M.) 1923 1958 Kornbluth, Cyril M. Eisner, Simon Cooke, Arthur Kornbluth, C.M. Lavond, Paul Dennis Corwin, Cecil Sibley, Don Sibley, Donald Dibley, Don The Marching Morons Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction April 1951 Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Marching Morons" by C. M. Kornbluth is a science fiction novella written during the early 1950s. The story delves into the themes of social decline and the dangers of a society overwhelmed by ignorance and anti-intellectualism. It presents a dystopian future where the majority of the population lacks intelligence, leading to a societal structure that prioritizes mediocrity over genius. The plot follows Efim Hawkins, a potter who unexpectedly revives Honest John Barlow, a man from the past who had been in suspended animation for centuries. Barlow learns that society has deteriorated to the point where the average IQ is around 45, and intelligent people are now a minority. Taking advantage of the situation, Barlow seeks power and influence, all while contemplating a plan to manipulate the underdeveloped population. His revival serves as a catalyst for a critique of societal values, as Barlow’s self-serving ambitions clash with the grim reality of the world he has awakened to. Throughout the story, Kornbluth crafts a thought-provoking commentary on the implications of overpopulation and cultural stagnation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 74.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 96211 2025-06-20T14:28:44.921211 text/html 73312 2024-10-23T00:04:05 text/html 345132 2025-06-20T14:28:47.560203 application/epub+zip 345417 2025-06-20T14:28:45.422196 application/epub+zip 104891 2025-06-20T14:28:45.141207 application/epub+zip 391499 2025-06-20T14:28:49.245205 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 383517 2025-06-20T14:28:47.307239 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 143623 2022-09-23T10:20:04.905445 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 88371 2023-09-22T08:43:25.403193 text/plain 68632 2024-10-23T00:04:05 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16328 2025-06-20T14:28:49.393170 application/rdf+xml 25409 2025-06-20T14:28:45.230179 image/jpeg 4540 2025-06-20T14:28:45.183217 image/jpeg 315856 2025-06-20T14:28:44.942244 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia