ABSTRACT
An assumption that equality problems are either absent or relatively trivial and easy is seen particularly in connection with issues related to the environment, national resources, knowledge and technology, and population growth. This chapter examines that assumption and systematically shows how a concern with rationality that ignores questions of ethics or justice is self-deluding if not self-serving. The entire basis of major national resource allocations is rarely probed in any depth. If national interest and prestige are to be useful in determining national goals, they must be defined by reference to other values whose independent validity is clear. In the case of military security, of course, there must be a national policy—it cannot be left up to the individual. Admittedly, many people submit in a docile fashion to paternalism in military affairs, although fewer are docile about less important but more personal matters such as pornography and marijuana.
