Hi, to me health promotion is the advancement of wellness (that include
the spiritual, emotional, political, social, environmental, health, and
intellectual) for all people.  In order for people to experience
wellness, I feel that the social and economical environment are very
important.  Therefore I feel that we health promotionists should be
active in politics and attempt to make the system people friendly.  I
believe that all people in this country have a right to be happy, and
unless they experience the components of wellness, it will be very hard
for them to realize self-actualization.  We need to start with the
political first, and then I feel the rest will fall into place.  As I see it,
social democracy is the most humane and health promoting form of government
(the political system promoted by the old American socialists at the
beginning of this century, such as Shaw, Dewey, and later by Albert
Einstein and John Kenneth Galbreath. It not only focuses on economic justice
and human rights, but also on wellness with all of its components.


Sincerely,


Larry Semark, PhD, CHES
UNM