The Perpetual Pursuit of Sharing and Caring: Thomas Kleven's Equitable Sharing as a Guide for Legal Actors Chasing Meaningful Democracy

Abstract

Equitable Sharing presents a strong argument for the pursuit, development, and dynamic maintenance of cooperative and complementary regulatory and governance systems (including taxation) that all have the same aim: promoting equitable sharing and countering the concentration, entrenchment, and propagation of power and privilege. We are asked to look at the reasons why societies form, the ideologies justifying and supporting social formation and cooperation by all of society’s members, the manner in which they function, and the very necessary relations that form the core of social existence and operation. We are then asked to develop systems that order society and distribute the resultant desirable and burdensome outputs/outcomes in light of this. Like Plato in the Republic, Kleven is pursuing the design of an ideal society. Unlike Plato, however, Kleven seeks to find the ideal in equality (not class stratification), in truth and reality (not virtuous lies), and in dynamic responses to necessarily/naturally changing social needs/growth (not in stable enclaves that prevent change or growth).

Keywords: Equality, democracy, united stated constitution, equity, just distribution, taxation, social regulation, disadvantage, affirmative action