I've always seen this story, less as a parable about our treatment of the disabled (or the gifted), and more as a lesson about envy. It shows what happens when you try to eliminate envy from society by bringing everyone to the same level, so that nobody has any "unfair" advantages.
edit: I think the telling line is:
> their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in
The point isn't to make people equal for the sake of an abstract egalitarian principle, the point is to stop anyone from feeling envious.
edit 2: There is one obvious problem with this attempt to prevent envy. When you handicap someone, if the handicaps are visible, you can still tell by looking at the handicaps who has the greatest talent, as happens in the story. A more dystopian version would make the handicaps invisible.
I agree, especially considering the version of the story Vonnegut previous told in Sirens of Titan [1]. In that story (written earlier), the people are shown willingly embracing handicaps out of love. Definitely makes an interesting contrast. My theory is that he wrote the later story (Bergeron) is to clarify the distinction you mention. Loving people will want to "handicap" themselves for the sake of solidarity, but you can't turn it around the other way.
This seems similar to a common justification for school uniforms. If everybody is made to dress the same way, we can eliminate the bullying that comes with letting people choose their own fashion. Of course, the bullying continues anyway.
edit: I think the telling line is:
> their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in
The point isn't to make people equal for the sake of an abstract egalitarian principle, the point is to stop anyone from feeling envious.
edit 2: There is one obvious problem with this attempt to prevent envy. When you handicap someone, if the handicaps are visible, you can still tell by looking at the handicaps who has the greatest talent, as happens in the story. A more dystopian version would make the handicaps invisible.