Christopher Cook on Beyond Certainty

That was my reaction to Rawls (or, more precisely, my reaction to what I came to understand about Rawls from reading Nozick). Rawls contends that behind the veil of ignorance, no one will know what position (s)he will be born into (how smart, lucky, etc.). Hence, the safest thing is to create a society of social justice that will redistribute to those born less fortunate. And then he follows up, as I understand it, with a threat: If we do not, then the "least" among us may just decide to freak out and take what they want from the "lucky" ones by force. My reaction was this: What stops the people who were born smarter, healthier, etc. (or who have simply shown more discipline and determination) from saying screw all y'all and creating a Galt's Gulch. And then surrounding it with tanks and living in peace and productivity and just saying, "You guys can go poke berries up your noses for all we care." And in a sense, why shouldn't they? Why should those who have worked harder—and even those who were born luckier—be forced to share anything, either through violence or the looming threat of violence?