Health care in a socially sustainable society.  Having gritted our teeth and bit down on the Social Sustainability Interpretation of Education, let us now engage an interpretation of this vital social function of society.  This interpretation will take us deep inside the philosophy of social sustainability and require several posts to explore.  Because health care is such a “touchstone” social issue, it will tell us a lot about the unsustainability of our societies today.  Again, the three core values of social sustainability, (Quality of Life, Growth and Equality) will be applied to reinterpret this social issue. 

Quality of life provides a measure for individuals, and as individuals in society.  Our social environment provides the context for our evaluation of the quality of our life as we compare ourselves to others.  The state of our health is as obvious to us as it is to others.  When you get on the city bus and find yourself next to a person who has lost many teeth, skin that is unhealthy, with discolored whites of their eyes and straw-like hair, what is your reaction?  Do you dismiss them as a disposable person, or one who is of equal value as yourself to society? 

In a society that is moving toward social sustainability, every individual is valued equally as any other person regardless of external references.  Every individual has a potential within them that is waiting to be explored and developed or is now in development.  Everyone has the capability of making a contribution to the sustainability of themselves and society.  When external references are withdrawn from our valuation of others, we then have the capacity to evaluate the potential of other people much more accurately. 

Healthcare in its broadest terms in a socially sustainable society has as its first priority to sustain the species.  That means to ensure the best in utero, birth, family and social and emotional environment as possible to procreate the best innate advantages for the next generation.  Its second priority is to prepare the individual/family for the arrival of their first and subsequent children that will support the holistic health of every generation to become more a more healthy contributor to the new generation. 

Healthcare in this regard is not isolated to the physical welfare of the person, but also to their mental, emotional, intellectual, cultural, social and spiritual welfare.  Healthcare in a socially sustainable society takes on a holistic approach to the whole person to support the wholeness of society.  This will involved many peripheral social issues.