Establishing Formal Equality

The very first step towards bringing about equality is, naturally, ending the formal system of inequality and privilege that custom and law have historically protected. All over the world, social, economic and political inequalities have long been upheld by customs and legal systems that deliberately prevented certain sections of society from enjoying particular opportunities and rewards. In many countries, poor people were denied the right to vote at all. Women were barred from taking up a wide range of professions and activities. In India, the caste system prevented people belonging to the so-called "lower" castes from doing anything except manual labour. In many other countries, only people from certain families were allowed to occupy positions of high office. …