The idea of Equality, Nicholas Smith observes in his insightful new book, Basic Equality and Discrimination Reconciling Theory and Law, is both concrete and ambiguous at the same time. It is concrete in that the elemental outlines of what basic equality is can be recognised and understood, in spite of the fact that in particular circumstances it may be difficult to determine whether a chosen legal or political action respects basic equality. It is ambiguous because it is used to justify and often substantiate the moral, substantive and instrumental aspects of vastly different divergent philosophical and jurisprudential perspectives. At the same time, it is used as rhetorical lubricate for all types of political programs or legal decisions. This rhetoric finds proponents of gay marriage, affirmative action for ethnic Malays, aboriginal autonomy in Bolivia, women advocating for the equal rather than the 'complementary' nature of the sexes advocated by religious conservatives in the Tunisian constitution, the expiration of a law that allowed thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews to be exempted from military duty, and support for traditional family values, all using the language of equality and equal rights for vastly different political and social programs.