Introduction
Starting with Aristotle in the Classical Era of Grecian thought, the concept of justice has been debated not only in form but in function. There is little doubt that the concept plays an important role in both secular and ecclesiastical thought with scholars in both arenas writing at length on the impact it could have on community, civilization and citizen (Sandel, 2010). In the 19th century, this debate took a new path by concentrating on the concept of “social justice” and not simply justice alone.
Before this point, justice was centered on the ideal of individuals fulfilling their societal roles as well as receiving the correct due for their efforts. This was, at least in the classical era of Plato and Aristotle considered …show more content…
Resources, once thought to be unlimited or at the very least well beyond the scope of modern man to diminish have turned out to be far less expansive. Poverty and disease run rampant in the less developed parts of the world, creating medical problems that rarely remain behind political borders. In the developed world, health resources, while not scarce, are still apportioned in unequal manners.
With these shifts, the community moves further away from the neo-tribal or extended family rural model, society becoming less possible to share resources through simple social or familial connections (Ritter & Hoffman, 2010). Once neighbors would share the burden of care of the sick, dying and inform. In addition, with two career families and the reduction in the number of multi-generational homes, the traditional home health care roles have been replaced with more organizational …show more content…
In a capitalistic system, this equates to lower access to comprehensive health and medical care. Because of this it is necessary for programs and institutions to apply a concept of social justice to their creation and running. Leaving a foundation of pure capitalistic distribution of resources would create a society where the the lower classes received only those services that were emergency in nature (Social Justice, n.d.).
Additionally, as is the case across the United States, indigent care and emergency rooms have become the gateway to the medical community. In many of these communities, the burden of payment eventually falls to other patients as the hospital tries to maintain operating costs. Passing these costs on to working and middle class patients means that the incidence of catastrophic medical emergency impacting finances increases, creating a cycle where only those with the liquid means to pay remain stable.
Without distribution of the cost across a wider range of income levels as well as health levels, the system will ultimately fold. Finally, without shifting from emergency care to primary and preventative care, a single catastrophic health care event can and does bankrupt even middle class families (Hofrichter & Bhatia,
Starting with Aristotle in the Classical Era of Grecian thought, the concept of justice has been debated not only in form but in function. There is little doubt that the concept plays an important role in both secular and ecclesiastical thought with scholars in both arenas writing at length on the impact it could have on community, civilization and citizen (Sandel, 2010). In the 19th century, this debate took a new path by concentrating on the concept of “social justice” and not simply justice alone.
Before this point, justice was centered on the ideal of individuals fulfilling their societal roles as well as receiving the correct due for their efforts. This was, at least in the classical era of Plato and Aristotle considered …show more content…
Resources, once thought to be unlimited or at the very least well beyond the scope of modern man to diminish have turned out to be far less expansive. Poverty and disease run rampant in the less developed parts of the world, creating medical problems that rarely remain behind political borders. In the developed world, health resources, while not scarce, are still apportioned in unequal manners.
With these shifts, the community moves further away from the neo-tribal or extended family rural model, society becoming less possible to share resources through simple social or familial connections (Ritter & Hoffman, 2010). Once neighbors would share the burden of care of the sick, dying and inform. In addition, with two career families and the reduction in the number of multi-generational homes, the traditional home health care roles have been replaced with more organizational …show more content…
In a capitalistic system, this equates to lower access to comprehensive health and medical care. Because of this it is necessary for programs and institutions to apply a concept of social justice to their creation and running. Leaving a foundation of pure capitalistic distribution of resources would create a society where the the lower classes received only those services that were emergency in nature (Social Justice, n.d.).
Additionally, as is the case across the United States, indigent care and emergency rooms have become the gateway to the medical community. In many of these communities, the burden of payment eventually falls to other patients as the hospital tries to maintain operating costs. Passing these costs on to working and middle class patients means that the incidence of catastrophic medical emergency impacting finances increases, creating a cycle where only those with the liquid means to pay remain stable.
Without distribution of the cost across a wider range of income levels as well as health levels, the system will ultimately fold. Finally, without shifting from emergency care to primary and preventative care, a single catastrophic health care event can and does bankrupt even middle class families (Hofrichter & Bhatia,