ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the meaning of the statement, once revolutionary and merely banal, that 'all men are equal'. Nor is the claim that all men are equal based on the fact that we all belong to the same species, and share the same biological make-up and the same morphological and physiological traits. If it were, one might equally well say, 'all geese are equal', or 'all flies are equal', or 'all nettles are equal'. One might, of course, ask whether equality in the distribution of goods could not be achieved on a voluntary basis, as it is in a monastery or on a kibbutz. Progressive taxes have so far proved the most effective way of softening such inequality, but beyond a certain point they have disastrous effects on the economy, to the detriment of the poor as well as the rich.
