There are three values that have sustained our species:  Quality of Life, Growth and Equality.  These values are intrinsic to our species and embedded in our DNA.  They define who we are as humans.  They are not associated with any external values or outside references.  This point is primary to future SS interpretations. 

For example, the values that have sustained our species for tens of thousands of years are not associated or determined by any religion, political philosophy, philosophy of any fraternal or sororal association or macro-economic philosophy.  These values are not associated with the church you go to, your political affiliations, the type of corporation you own or work for, your culture, ethnicity, race or gender.  NOTHING EXTERNAL is of influence to the logic and reasoning of the three values of social sustainability.  External influences will have no effect upon the sustainability of our species or our social sustainability except when they are in agreement with those values to support their effective functioning. 

Reciprocally, belief systems, philosophies, values and expectations whether of a social, political or economic/financial nature will not support social sustainability unless they incorporate those three values into their philosophical base and operational decision-making procedures.  Doing so will give organizations that support society the same capability of adapting to changing outside conditions with the same capability as our species, and with the same capability of enduring for many centuries and millennia.  Consider the following interpretation regarding same-sex marriages.

Regardless of whether the same sex couple is two men or two women this social issue is treated the same by the values of social sustainability.  Consider:  Does the marriage of two people of the same sex decrease your ability or my ability to achieve a better quality of life?  Will their marriage decrease our ability to grow into our individual potential?  Will their marriage decrease our equality to pursue a better quality of life and to grow as any other person?  “No,” to each question.   

In reality, when we use these values to interpret this social issue, we can reciprocally interpret that any refusal to allow these two people of the same sex to marry and enjoy these three values, as they interpret them, in fact violates their right of self-determination.