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But socialism is like liberalism, conservatism, fascism or communism — it’s an ideology and a political position more than an ascriptive characteristic or identity-based group.

I could not understand why being Jamaican — an ascriptive identity I inherited through an accident of birth — assigned me a to group identity I shared with people with whom I had little in common, save the same nationality.

In the final chapter, he describes the deplorable situation in his country created by “ascriptive rights”: rights that “just depend on being able to assert that one belongs to a group or part of the country to be able to lay claim to positions of authority or power.”

In his view America offers “ascriptive citizenship”, which means that access to rights, power and privileges are determined by race, gender, ethnicity and religion.

How does Smith’s distinction between egalitarian and ascriptive citizenship shed light on the relationship between race and the law?