this centrality of the individual is also manifest in the Rule of Law attribution of formal individual equality before the law. Unlike the Nuer, for instance, we do not perceive ourselves as first and foremost social beings (members of society), but rather as individuals whose goals and ambitions are to be found in individual achievement, even if this is secured at the expense of fellow members of society. we have also argued that this ideological perception of individual separateness affects other perceptions and, in particular, when we discussed property, we found that the idea of absolute rights over land or things also reflected and reinforced the notion of separateness. in our society, men and women of property have no obligations to men and women of poverty; and charity, though it might receive approval, is not obligatiory and poor enjoy no right, by reason of that status, against the rich.