''You can't deduce from this the rule that because people are unequal you ought to treat them unequally in order to make them equal.''

"And the point we must start from is that the classical demand is that the state ought to treat all people equally in spite of the fact that they are very unequal. You can't deduce from this the rule that because people are unequal you ought to treat them unequally in order to make them equal and that's what social justice amounts to.

It's a demand that the state should treat the different people differently in order to place them in the same position.

The rule of equal treatment applies only to things the state has to do in any case.

But, to make, making people equal, a goal of government policy would force government to treat people very unequally indeed!"

Prof. Friedrich von Hayek, when asked by the journalist Jeff Greenfield on his skepticism about social justice.

From Firing Line, William F Buckley Jr hosts a discussion on social justice with George Roche III (Hillsdale College) and Prof. Friedrich von Hayek.