The three core values of social sustainability (quality of life, growth and equality) inexorably draw us toward their fulfillment in our personal lives.  They exist in every person, even judges.  When courts decide upon legal cases they draw upon historic precedent, the law and consideration of “the common good.”  When the law does not have those three values embedded in them, then the slow progress of social evolution must be through interpretations by judges that take into account “the common good.”  

For same gender marriages, the Supreme Court rightly chose not to hear cases from subordinate courts, but to let the “common good” stand in those interpretations.  Over time, we can anticipate that the slow bend of interpretations will more and more side with the three core values that are the timeless, universal and reliable standard for interpreting all things social.  Whether two people of the same gender marry or not has no bearing upon anyone else.  Yes there are fears concerning legal contracts and raising of children, but they are separate considerations that will have their day in court. 
 
Conscious social evolution is possible from several fronts:  Ongoing court interpretation of legal cases that begin to apply the three core values as a universal standard.  This is a very reasonable avenue, as interpretations that invoke these universal standards could easily be accepted by almost any group.  A more direct means would be to apply those values in completely new educational curricula that spans the era of life from after birth to the last days of life.  This aspect fascinates me as there is no centralized, focusing purpose for education pre-school through secondary school in the U.S.  Such a focused national and state program would have incredible, positive results in many sectors of our society, politics, economy, finance and culture that are missing now.  

What is missing are the cultural, social, political and economic/financial leaders who see what needs to be done, but need the universal tools to develop those policies and curricula.  It would be easy to lapse into cynicism, but I know that those remarkable, selfless and socially altruistic individuals do exist.  They are the exceptions to the rule – they are those remarkable individuals who truly do make a difference.  We can anticipate them to soon stand above the crowd of mediocrity.  History repeatedly demonstrates that when the times require, they appear.