Now the notion of taxing all to benefit some—or indeed some to benefit all—is absent from the core calculations of American social policy makers. The consequences are clear in the confused reasoning of even the best-intentioned reformers. Take, for example, the feminist line on child care and other facilities from which women might benefit. Rather than suppose that the wider point of the exercise is to revise taxation and social services in such a way as to benefit all, the mainstream feminist position is to seek legislation designed exclusively to advantage women.
