In practice, the reknitting of our frayed social safety net could take many forms. It could mean shedding our embarrassing status as the only developed nation without federally mandated paid leave. It could mean forgiving the anvil of student debt that still weighs on the shoulders of tens of millions of Americans. It could mean expanding the Child Tax Credit, which has been proven to be an effective lever to alleviate poverty. Or it could mean reimagining our broken healthcare system, on which the United States spends a whopping 42 percent more per capita than any other country in the world.
