Social Reality Stocktaking

When I initially heard about the process of Social Reality Stocktaking, I was delighted that someone wanted to hold a real discussion on the state of society. Unfortunately, upon reading the documents, I was disappointed to find that the stocktaking process was not looking at social reality, but at economic indicators. I am not convinced that economic indicators are a reliable measure of social reality. If they were, the improved economic status of Ireland over the last decade should be matched by improvements in social cohesion rather than the rise in serious crime, addictions, suicide, alienation, family dysfunction, exclusion, and loneliness that we actually see.

We would not just ask is a person employed, we would ask if they are valued, connected, nourished physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. And we would check if this respect for the person extends to every person regardless of age, size, ability, colour or any other characteristics.

To properly stock take social reality, we would also look at the sustainability of the natural habitat of the human person - the family.

With this in mind, we would not just look at the gap between the rich and poor, but the gaps left by family breakdown and social isolation.

To understand social reality we must start with the reality of the human person that makes up society.

I will give just one example, it will hopefully illustrate how contradictory the results will be if we look at the money rather than at the man or woman. We all agree that women should have the right to work and find equality when they do but when we, through economic policies, pressure mothers of babies who would rather stay at home to care for them, into the workforce, we register a high employment rate and assume that this means a healthier social reality. However, if we look at the babies hardwired to have a constant maternal input and note the loss they suffer from the absence of their mothers in the crucial early years, a loss whether or not it is a comfortable thing to her, will affect them emotionally and neurologically for the rest of their lives as scientists tell us. Then, we may not be so quick to point to the high employment of mothers of young children as indicators of a healthy social reality.

The irony of short term thinking of focusing exclusively on the economics of a society is that it is the welfare of the people and the family at a human level that ultimately has the greatest impact on the economics.

Look at the cost of troubled people to the exchequer, think of the cost of crime, drugs, dropping out, etc. to the exchequer - economic growth can be gobbled up by the growth of social problems.

The word economics comes from the Greek for the management of the home.

Economics should serve all persons helping them to be at home in their communities and in themselves. If we get this right we will have a very healthy social reality to stock take.

send your comments to the EU

http://ec.europa.eu/citizens_agenda/social_reality_stocktaking/index_en.htm