The Principles of Justice

[Robert Nozick - spoken]
Your theory would justify taxing my money and giving it to people who have no right to it! I'm not gonna let that happen!

[John Rawls]
Rights, you say? How about a little free speech? I’ve got two principles, so remember
[sung]
Behind the veil
You could be anyone
You could be anyone at all
As a minority
You'd want the liberty
And the right to speak your mind
As a religious man
You'd want to practice and
To hold beliefs of any kind
[spoken]
If you don’t know who you're gonna be, you wouldn't risk a law stopping you from being yourself, so we've got to have equal liberty for all, no matter who you are!

[Nozick]
Okay, your first principle is obvious enough, but what else have you got?

[Rawls - sung]
If you were unsure
If you'd be rich or poor
I bet you'd want equality

[Nozick - spoken]
But wait, what if some inequality could make everyone better off?

[Rawls]
Let me finish
[sung]
I bet you'd want equality
Unless the very poor
Could indeed get more
When there's inequality

[Nozick]
Not so fast!

[Rawls]
Hold on, I’m not done
[sung]
Everyone has desires, dreams and ambitions
They’d want to achieve them no matter their position
You might be born poor, so class can't hold you back
You’d want the opportunity if you've got the knack