{"id":15613,"date":"2013-06-04T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=15613"},"modified":"2013-06-03T22:48:57","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T02:48:57","slug":"forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html","title":{"rendered":"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ts that time of the month again! Head on over\u00a0to Camels with Hammers<\/a>\u00a0to see Dan\u2019s roundup of the posts written in response to\u00a0his prompt on the ethics of cruelty<\/a>\u00a0two weeks ago, and with that said, it\u2019s time to turn to our next Forward Thinking prompt.<\/p>\n

This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation\u2019s social safety net if you could start from scratch. (To give you some idea of where to go with this, our current social safety net comprises everything from Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare to welfare, unemployment, and food stamps to housing assistance, Head Start, and child tax credits.). I could ask you what you think is the purpose of a nation\u2019s social safety net, or what duty we as citizens have to the other citizens of our nation, or what all you think should be the social safety net set up by the government and what should be in private hands, but I think this will be more interesting. I also want to avoid the perennial argument between conservatives and liberals about whether our welfare system enables people to be lazy or helps people out of poverty. Your beliefs about this should guide your answer. In answering this question, don\u2019t assume that you are creating a social safety net for some ideal country. You\u2019re creating it for our country as it is now, problems and all . (For those of you outside of the U.S., you can choose whether to answer this prompt for the U.S. or for your country.) Here is the prompt, put most simply:<\/p>\n

If you were dictator-for-life, how would you design our social safety net, starting from scratch?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to invite readers to discuss this question in the comment section and to invite bloggers to respond on their own blogs. At the end of two weeks I will post a round-up of links and excerpts to both blog posts elsewhere and especially insightful comments here. Bloggers should email their links to lovejoyfeminism (at) gmail (dot) com with \u201cForward Thinking\u201d in the subject line if they want to be included in the round-up.<\/p>\n

Happy thinking and discussing!<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Forward Thinking: A Values Development Project<\/a>\u00a0is an invitation to both readers and fellow bloggers to\u00a0participate<\/a>\u00a0in forming positive values and grappling with thorny questions.\u00a0<\/em>Click here<\/a>\u00a0to read the project introduction.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation’s social safety net if you could start from scratch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[300],"class_list":["post-15613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-justice","tag-forward-thinking"],"yoast_head":"\nForward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-04T10:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-04T02:48:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/files\/2013\/01\/Forward-Thinking-3-1024x253.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html\",\"name\":\"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-04T10:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-04T02:48:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?","description":"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?","og_description":"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2013-06-04T10:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-06-04T02:48:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/files\/2013\/01\/Forward-Thinking-3-1024x253.jpg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html","name":"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-06-04T10:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-04T02:48:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"This month I want to do something a little bit different. For this prompt, I want you to imagine that politics is no obstacle, and then explain how you would build our nation's social safety net if you could start from scratch.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/forward-thinking-how-would-you-design-our-social-safety-net.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Forward Thinking: How Would You Design Our Social Safety Net?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}