Back in the 70s I took a college philosophy course on Taxation. The professor was a hippy and he was obsessed with fairness. The class discussed policies of taxation and what would be the most Fair.
One possible scheme was to treat everyone the same — just (let’s say) a 10% tax on income for everyone. The professor didn’t like that. It wasn’t fair. Different people are in different circumstances and 10% for you might be painless, but 10% for me might be ruinous. Not a good plan. Treating everyone the same wasn’t Fair at all.
His preferred taxation policy involved a whole lot of different decisions, made by an expert (such as himself) so that some people paid more, some paid less, some paid nothing. Outcomes would be determined, some people would be helped, some would be punished, each decision determined by a panel of Good People who had opinions on these sorts of things. That was the most Fair, in his opinion.
The guy was a nut.
“There is no such thing as ‘safe’ socialism. If it’s safe, it’s not socialism. And if it’s socialism, it’s not safe. The signposts of socialism point downhill to less freedom, less prosperity, downhill to more muddle, more failure. If we follow them to their destination, they will lead this nation into bankruptcy.”
Margaret Thatcher