Right to equal opportunity

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

The proposed right:

No government or person shall unfairly deny a person an opportunity which is open to other similarly situated people, or unfairly require a person to meet conditions which are not imposed on other similarly situated people.

Intent:

Wherever resources are limited, the right to equal opportunity demands that people be given the same opportunities to access limited resources based on criteria that do not unfairly bias results for one group or one person over another group or another person. This right prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of attributes that a person cannot control such as skin color, sex, national or social origin, place of birth, primary language, and social caste. This right also prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs or political opinions.

Protection against harm, insofar as it involves other people doing something to deter harm or to bring justice after harm has been done, is a resource and everyone must have an equal opportunity to benefit from this protection.

This right applies to both public and private situations, such as employment in government and employment in private companies or organizations, or provisioning of meals for the poor or the homeless, or provisioning of medical care after a disaster.

The right of equal opportunity prohibits the practice of racism and sexism and other kinds of unfair discrimination, including discrimination based on religious beliefs.

The right of equal opportunity gives every person standing to sue any person or private organization or any level of government that enacts a policy or law that has unfair and irrational exceptions, or that selectively enforces a policy law with a bias that advantages or disadvantages specific groups, or that behaves consistently in a way that indicates an unwritten or unspoken but obviously present bias that advantages or disadvantages specific groups.

Discussion:

When the government controls a public resource such as food, water, clean air, use of electromagnetic spectrum, plumbing, roads, etc. it may enact laws to regulate the use of the resource, and these laws must not unfairly advantage or disadvantage any group, or be unfairly applied to advantage or disadvantage any group.

In situations where labor is well organized, each person has the right to receive equal pay for equal work. One example where this does not apply is if, in the absence of regulation, one homeowner negotiates a dog-walking or car-washing rate with a neighbor kid, and another homeowner somewhere else negotiates a different rate with their own neighbor kid, they are not violating anyone’s rights. However, when such disparities are widespread enough to be a cause of concern, legislatures should enact minimum or maximum pay standards for certain jobs in certain situations to ensure people receive equal pay for equal work, without limiting the ability of people to enter into contracts in a free market without such protections, especially when the conditions are different in those free market contracts than in the regulated work environments.

The proposed right to commerce is closely related to the right to equal opportunity and focuses on activities related to a person earning a living for themselves and their household.

In the United States, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 was written to apply to everyone, including members of Congress. However, the executive branch allowed members of Congress to essentially opt-out of the program and this was unfair to the people because the people didn’t get this opportunity. Because this violates the people’s right to equal opportunity, anyone has standing to challenge an unfair exception written into the law or the failure of the government to enforce the law equally or at least to apply justifiable and fair criteria when prioritizing resources.

The word “unfairly” in the right of equal opportunity does not create an obligation to do non-sensical things. For example, if a company produces and sells bras for women, it is not also obligated to produce and sell bras for men. The related right to commerce ensures that men would have the same access to buy such bras if they want them for themselves or someone in their household. Also, a public school may create a girls basketball team and a boys basketball team, and is not obligated to create an intersex team if there are not enough players to fill it. However, if there is demand for a non-segregated team that allows players of any sex, including intersex, then if the school has girls and boys teams it must also create a unisex team. Such a public school must not deny students and parents from organizing such an intersex team because that would deny the players who want to play on that team an equal opportunity to participate in school sports in a team that matches their sex, or if boys and girls want to play together on the same team without being separated by sex. If such a team is organized, the school must include it in official events.

Comparison with the United States:

The United States has equal opportunity laws that are relevant to this discussion.

Comparison with the United Nations:

Article 2 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.” This article relates to the right to equal opportunity.

Article 7 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.” The second sentence of that relates to the right to equal opportunity.

Article 15 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to a nationality.” This is similar to Article 6 which states “Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.” Every member of society who has agreed to live by the same rules, whether they were born there or naturalized, including through asylum, can call themselves a national of that society.

Article 16.1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.” This is covered by the right to equal opportunity, whether or not the state concerns itself with marriage.

Article 21.1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.” This relates to the right to equal opportunity. If some people have the right to participate, then all people should have the same right to participate. However, people who are imprisoned do not get to participate, minors do not get to participate, and adults who are mentally incapacitated also cannot participate.

Article 21.2 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.” This is covered by the right to equal opportunity.

Article 21.3 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” The part about equal suffrage relates to the right to equal opportunity.

Article 22 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.” We may disagree about how much obligation other people have, but if any resources are to be allocated to social security and cultural rights, then everyone should have an equal opportunity to access those resources without unfair discrimination.

Article 23.1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.” Even if “right to work” is debatable (if someone has the right to work, does that mean someone else has the obligation to give them a job?) this relates to the right to equal opportunity — if work is available, employers must not unfairly discriminate against some applicants.

Article 23.2 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.” This is covered by the right to equal opportunity.

Article 23.3 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.” The part about “just and favourable renumeration” relates to the right to equal opportunity.

Article 26.1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” The first part about elementary education is covered by the right to education and the right to equal opportunity. The second part about equal access to higher education is covered by the right to equal opportunity.

Article 27.1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”

See also:

No Unjust Exceptions

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