> Once we start trying to equalize along these other dimensions of marginal utility or equality of some other thing we're no longer focused on funding governmen

> Once we start trying to equalize along these other dimensions of marginal utility or equality of some other thing we're no longer focused on funding government but enacting some equality/justice endeavor. Creating equal opportunity and administration of justice are functions of government. You seem to agree: > Let such endeavors be handled by some other government agency dedicated to those causes, How would you fund such government agencies except via tax revenue? > why drag the tax system into the mix and complicate things is what baffles me. The IRS doesn't administer, i.e. Social Security and Medicare. It is just responsible for collecting the tax needed to fund them. Otherwise each government agency would need it's own revenue collection arm, which makes little sense from an efficiency perspective. A flat tax set at the very low levels its proponents advocate would effectively defund government programs like Medicare and Social Security, which is often the goal behind such proposals. Note by the way that social Security tax is today an example of a regressive tax which caps out at around $132,000 of income.