Describe the state of the U.S. society as described in the first paragraph. How has "equality" been achieved?

The year is 2081 and the narrator says that equality has finally been achieved. One of the things that sticks out in this opening paragraph is the claim that everyone is equal "before God." The department of the Handicapper General has the audacity to suggest that their implementation of "equality" has actually met with God's approval. This shows the extent of their hubris and the extent of their delusion about what equality in America should...

The year is 2081 and the narrator says that equality has finally been achieved. One of the things that sticks out in this opening paragraph is the claim that everyone is equal "before God." The department of the Handicapper General has the audacity to suggest that their implementation of "equality" has actually met with God's approval. This shows the extent of their hubris and the extent of their delusion about what equality in America should actually be. In American, the notion of equality is based upon equal rights and equal opportunity. But in this scenario, people are handicapped and/or discouraged from improving themselves. Their opportunities are squashed. If someone has a higher intelligence quotient, he/she is handicapped. The same goes for being too attractive or having too much physical ability. In a sense, they are all equal, but this equality is achieved by limiting and oppressing the people. Needless to say, an omniscient God would look at this society and see their notion of equality as a partial enslavement of the populace.