Day of the Moron

by H. Beam Piper

It's natural to trust the unproven word of the fellow who's "on my side"--but the emotional moron is on no one's side, not even his own. Once, such an emotional moron could, at worst, hurt a few. But with the mighty, leashed forces Man employs now....

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Dystopia, Ebooks

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Henry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who are the morons?

Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: March 24, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B004TQHIKQ
34 pages

One reviewer claims that the first part of this story is missing. That may well be true. As it is published I don't completely understand the story-telling of the first 4%. Up to location 17 it consists of a conversation between two unidentified people which sets the stage for the potential serious problem of having all of New York city and a large section of the surrounding country dependent upon electrical power from just one nuclear plant. Almost everything in this 1968 future depends on electricity. So far as I can tell these two people don't appear in the rest of the story. Though their worries do. Which is the only thing tying the beginning and the rest of the story together.

A lot of the story which follows concerns union activity and a dispute over the dismissal of two workers for failing a combination intelligence and psychological suitability test. Use your own judgment to determine who the morons are. Not one of Mr. Piper's better stories and only marginally is it sci-fi.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my grandparents used to say, every day is moron day!

Wise!

What the hell kind of name is Beam, any way? Zachary Quinto, what do you think?

Can't wait to read this.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underdeveloped short about workers at a nuclear power plant undergoing intelligence tests to determine capability for such a critical job, and the union getting in the way. Ultimately it just wasn't a very memorable story.

[Jon]

While my attention span was seriously diminished by a bout of the flu, I found myself browsing some of the old science fiction shorts on my Nook, and ran across this classic. The story has a theme or two in common with Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein and The Marching Morons, by Cyril M. Kornbluth, which was adapted to screen in Idiocracy; the potential dangers inherent in atomic power plants and in the "morons" within our society.

The protagonist is in charge of a nuclear power plant which provides 100% of the electricity for the eastern seaboard. He becomes concerned with the consequences if one of the men staffing the facility should decide, while bored, to twiddle a dial or push a button just to see what happens. The evidence for this type of behavior is obvious in studies of other industries' disasters, so it must be taken into consideration here. He calls in a top notch psychologist to administer tests to the workers, and will use the results to weed out the personalities prone to that sort of thing - the "morons", if you will.

In the process, however, he gets crossways with the union goons on the job site, and the results are, shall we say, suboptimal.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a union man I'm wise
To the lies of the company spies
And I don't get fooled
By the factory rules
'Cause I always read between the lines.

And I always get my way
If I strike for higher pay
When I show my card
To the Scotland Yard
This what I say.

Oh you don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.

Before the union did appear
My life was half as clear
Now I've got the power
To the working hour
And every other day of the year.

So though I'm a working man
I can ruin the government's plan
Though I'm not too hard
The sight of my card
Makes me some kind of superman.

Oh you don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

🖊 Good story with an interesting plot.

📕Published — Astounding Science Fiction September 1951 Vol. XLVIII No. 1.
🎨Illustrated.

જ⁀🟢 Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
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[Wampuscat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should there be an intelligence test for highly sensitive jobs? Dangerous ones with huge ramifications to the general public if it's done wrong? Probably, but only if the Union gets a say!

I liked this story and was left shaking my head that the true-to-life 'defense of the stupid because he's our man' that so often makes headlines even today.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow reading 📚

Due to eye issues Alexa reads to me, what a novella will written could this really happen. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is fast moving, complicated, and full of deception leading to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😈

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

2019 grade C

Kindle Mega-pack

The dumb action of one stupid worker can kill many. Too many long paragraphs, too depressing, and too repetitive. I also suspect the protagonist would not have passed the test either.

[Bill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically Ayn Rand fan-fic. Avoid.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Consider this a meltdown (it's about a nuclear reactor))

[Lew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is a perfect example why I like to read classic 50s science fiction stories. This was published in 1951 but the story takes place in 1968. It is fun to read what Mr. Piper thought it would be like in 1968.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love reading dated science fiction, but this one unfortunately didn't have much going for it. Just an anti union story really.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story with common sense needed even today.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in the advanced days of 1968, there were people who remained unconvinced of the safety nuclear reaction plants. One of them was electronics engineer Scott Melroy, head of Melroy Engineering Corp. who has been brought into install fully cybernetic control systems at the Long Island Nuclear Reaction Plant to prevent a recurrence of incidents that no one ever talked about.

In addition to automation, he had to weed out the morons, the inattentive ones. Gone were the days that the moron could just kill himself or his family. A moron here could leave the whole city in darkness and kill who knows how many people. He had people of his own he could bring in, but there were blocked by union contracts. He’d arranged a series of IQ and other tests developed by psychologists. As was to be expected, the shop steward had a problem with the tests.

Please read the rest of the review here.

[Patrick DiJusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I t is rare for me to read a novel or short story and demand to know "What happened next?!?" But I really, really wanted this story to continue! I am absolutely astounded that some editor didn't demand Piper turn it into a full novel; it seems like the story was just getting started.

Written in the mid-1950s, during what would turn out to be, in retrospect, the height of the influence of labor unions in the US, the story hinges on a wildcat strike by the union workers of a huge atomic power plant on Long Island. The highest praise I could give - other than wanting the story to continue - is to say that this doesn't read like a pulp sci-fi story. This could have run in a slick; it's that good.

I didn't rate the book five stars because of the characterization. The hero is a Heinleinian (even Randian) ubermensch; self-made, hyper competent, utterly rational, without flaw. The union men are the morons of the title.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last type of employees you want working in a power station are "people who push buttons to see what'll happen."

In short, morons.

A major contractor hires Dr. Doris Rives ('the new dimwit detector') to root out the dummies during a series of intelligence tests, but not all the staff are happy about it.

Replace the word moron with the word 'teamsters' and you know who the satire is aimed at in this sci-fi disaster story from the commendably tongue-in-cheek Piper.

This is far from being the best thing of his I've come across however.

First published in Astounding Science Fiction, September 1951.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deals with a topic that is very relevant today. Interesting even if only for that fact. Has a rather dramatic and rushed ending, and the main character is a bit overboard in how "manly" he is in the face of a catastrophe but I can let that pass considering the date of publication. Piper did let me down a bit by having the US Army still using Stuart tanks for his future of 1969. They should have all been out of service as he wrote the story if my memory is correct. Not a detail worth lingering on though.

[Jim]

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Science Fiction / General;

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if pessimistic look at human nature. But perhaps accurate?

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written in the late 40's or early 50's, but it sound waaaaaaaaaaay to much like whats happening right now.

[Sean Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little story that is by far Piper's most prophetic as it for see' testing of employee's, illegality of 'wild cat' strikes and the reliance on large industrial power plants.