Equality is not something that is the default of nature, in that we all have individual strengths, challenges, and distinct starting points. This individuality is one of society's great strengths, and not something to be overlooked.

But there is a recognition that - independent of who we are - there are certain basic rights, human rights among them, that deserve to be extended to all of us. In America, we speak of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". In France, we speak of "liberté, égalité, fraternité". Similar sentiments are echoed the world over: we each are equally deserving of consideration when it comes to our rights, to justice and to an opportunity to pursue our dreams.

In practice, as we all have witnessed in one form or another, those rights are not equally available to everyone. It is necessary, as many continually do, to find and address these imbalances where we can.

A goal of Egality as an enterprise is to try to address these imbalances in a positive way. And critical to positively addressing sustainable development and inequality is to realize the importance of building, not tearing down. Rights do not have to be taken from one person or group to extend them to another. The beauty of sustainable development is that evolving a positive world system benefits everyone throughout it.

Inseparable from having rights is to have responsibilities. And a genuine responsibility is to use our power to equally extend those rights to all of us. That is root of our own rights.

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Even if this is, at this point, "the best of all possible worlds" (a phrase from Voltaire's "Candide") considering where we've come from, we can work together to try to make it better.