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In Harrison Bergeron, how does the United States government in 2081 ensure that all people are the same?

In Kurt Vonnegut's story Harrison Bergeron, the U.S. government in 2081 enforces full equality by "handicapping" everyone who possesses physical strength, intelligence, talent, beauty, or any other exceptional traits. Every person is reduced to the level of the least talented person so that it is impossible for anyone to be any better than anyone else. For example, Harrison's father George has a handicap in his ears to restrict his natural intelligence; it emits loud and unpleasant noises to interrupt his train of thought regularly, so that he is incapable of accessing his intelligence. His mother Hazel, on the other hand, is of "average" intelligence, so she is naturally only capable of focusing and thinking very briefly. George and Hazel, while they have very different levels of intelligence, are made equal in their ability to think by the government-mandated restrictions placed upon George.

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