The Marching Morons

In a future where intelligence has become a dangerous rarity, mediocrity reigns supreme. When ordinary potter Efim Hawkins accidentally revives Honest John Barlow—a slick, sharp-witted man preserved from centuries past—Barlow awakens to a society in catastrophic decline. Overpopulation has exploded. Education has collapsed. The average intelligence has plummeted. And the masses, countless and unquestioning, march forward under a system that rewards ignorance and conformity. Where others see chaos, Barlow sees opportunity. Armed with intellect, charm, and ruthless pragmatism, he rises quickly through this broken world, manipulating a population unable—or unwilling—to think for itself. But beneath the satire lies a chilling question: when intelligence becomes power, who deserves to wield it? Originally published in the early days of science fiction’s Golden Age, The Marching Morons is a sharp, unsettling satire that skewers anti-intellectualism, unchecked population growth, and the seduc