A society that aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty. And a society that aims first for liberty will not end up with equality, but it will end up with a closer approach to equality than any other kind of system that has ever been developed. You can only aim at equality by giving some the right to take things from others. And what ultimately happens when you aim at equality is that A and B decide what C shall do for D… except that they take a little bit of a commission off on the way.
– Milton Friedman, Free To Choose