Many conservative thinkers talk about ‘wealth creation’ as a way of reducing poverty. I’m not so sure- to my mind, wealth is a result of distribution of resources, rather than something which is ‘created’ from nothing. I also think that poverty is a prerequisite of wealth, and vice versa.
Having said that, I recently studied (as part of my philosophy course) a good critique of economic redistribution from Robert Nozick. He makes the point that a just redistribution of wealth is not the same as an equal distribution of wealth, in his Wilt Chamberlain example.
I think that Nozick’s argument that redistributing wealth impinges on people’s rights to their ‘just entitlement’ is very compelling. It appeals to the feeling that people shouldn’t be taxed just for being wealthy. But it does rest on the assumption that the distribution of wealth was fair in the first place (!)
I’m a bit undecided on the whole tax question. I can see real value in doing things collectively (hospitals, schools, public transport…) but I also think that the state should interfere as little as possible. Perhaps that means I’m a typical voter, wanting less taxes but more services!
things that might have been otherwise 
I think the main question around tax and public services is “does everybody benefit from the service being provided?” – clearly, everybody benefits from efficient transportation, a well-educated workforce, a clean and safe public realm, and a vibrant and diverse cultural life, so it seems to me to be fair enough for everybody to share in paying for it, rather than only the direct consumers of the service paying.The classic case-study of the rise in the public service ethos was cholera – in the late victorian inner city slums, only the rich could afford healthcare, so the poor ended up being worst affected by cholera, but unfortunately for the rich, because it was rife amongst the poor the disease ended up reaching epidemic proportions which even the richest person’s healthcare was unable to cope with – so it was realised that it genuinely is in the best interests of the haves to assist the have-nots in times of need.