Libertarianism, slavery and just taxation

The paper addresses the question as to what kind of a redistribution of wealth created within a society is righteous. It aims to show that philosophically motivated libertarian economic conceptions of justice designed to rationalize the unacceptability of progressive taxation – in particular conceptions of the Nozick type – are built on questionable bases because their proponents neglect facts that play a key role in the socio-economic reality of modern Western societies.

The paper presents critical evaluation of one of the cornerstones of the libertarian conception of economical justice. It makes use of a model example.

The scholars who approve of the regime of limited responsibility for the consequences of economic failure and yet make a claim for the unlimited fruit of one’s economic success adopt a problematic position that is internally incoherent.

The argumentation against the Nozick type arguments against progressive taxation is, as far as the author knows, original.