Tax is an equalizing force, not a theft

In John Rawls’ theory of distributive justice, all individuals of a society are fundamentally equal, and therefore all social goods must be distributed equally. If there is an unequal distribution of these goods, it must ultimately benefit everyone. This way all citizens have an advantage. Through Rawls’ understanding of society, taxation is elemental in distributing the unequal hierarchy of income. Perhaps someone can claim their share of a social good without making anyone worse off; this would still be an injustice to society because markets are not immune to bias and ancient avalanches of misdeeds. The actual distribution of income is not representative of what each person has a moral claim upon. Under this theory, any income withheld that is derived from a past injustice or fraud is unjustly claimed and therefore must be distributed fairly for society’s benefit. Because our markets are percolated with a tangled web of past slights, taxation is less of a theft than it is an equalizing force.