Contemplate this scenario for a moment then answer the three questions.

There are 10 people in the sovereign nation and their annual incomes break down like this:

Person 1: $100,000

Persons 2 and 3: $50,000

Persons 4 thru 7: $25,000

Persons 8 and 9: $10,000

Person 10: $5,000

If everyone was taxed at the same rate, say 10%, Person 1 would pay twice as much in taxes as Persons 2 and 3, and 20 times as much as Person 10.

Question 1: Is that fair?

Let's say that we determined that Persons 8, 9 and 10 were not making enough money to feed their families so we allowed them to not pay any income taxes and shifted the burden of their taxes to Person 1. After all, persons 8, 9 and 10 individual tax liability is only $2,500, which is only 2.5% of Person 1's income.

Question 2: Is that fair?

You scored a 95 on your final. However, your classmate, who has scored the same as you on the other 3, only scored a 70 because they had to work a double shift the night before the final and then had a flat tire on the way home and didn't get to sleep at all last night. So the professor decides to take 10 points from you and give them to your classmate, giving you each a "B" letter grade overall for the course.

Question 3: Is that fair?