Justifications for Redistribution

Effective Freedom
No one is justified in holding authority over anyone else. We are free, only limited by the equal freedom of others. However, without access to the basics of life and equal opportunity, we are indirectly denied our freedom. So redistribution is needed to assure equal freedom for all.

Fair Social Contract
If we were to design a social contract without knowing where we would be positioned in the result we would likely design one that maximizes freedom while assuring access to the basics of life and equal opportunity. Redistribution is needed to accomplish this.

Rectification of Ownership
A significant number of current property holdings are based on previous theft or private appropriation of property that should be jointly owned, such as natural and community resources that are not created by the property holder. Since it would be difficult to do a wholesale restructuring of holdings, redistribution of the resulting wealth is needed.

Rectification of Disadvantage
The current rules were often defined to help certain groups of people. They therefore disadvantage the others. As the rules are reformed to be more impartial, we need redistribution to help the disadvantaged make up the difference.

Defusing Revolution
If we don't assure enough "bread and circuses" to the masses, they will eventually revolt and the result could be very bad for all of us. At the very least the resulting social disorder would be bad. So we need enough redistribution to assure the preservation of the current social order or at least gradual reform.

Morality
We have a moral obligation to help the poor.