Natural and Forced Inequality | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Natural and Forced Inequality | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The Declaration of Independence, rejecting the political inequalities of the Old World, proclaims that “all Men are created equal.” But in so writing, Jefferson meant simply that we all have equal rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” plus the right to secure those rights — the right of self-rule — through governments whose just powers are grounded in “the consent of the governed.”

If self-rule is to be enjoyed equally, however, government must be limited. It can pursue neither equality of result nor equality even of opportunity through redistributive schemes"