Quote Originally Posted by Kantian Pragmatist View Post
And Tim, while I agree with you that cultural redistribution can alleviate the problem, in order for this feature to be relied upon, we would have to control the culture, in effect, mandating religious belief of a certain sort. This would be a violation of the first principles of liberalism (in the traditional, philosophic sense, not in the conservative vs. liberal sense). We have to preserve the freedom of people to believe, or not believe, as they think is best, or any other freedom they may or may not possess will be meaningless. And while I could disagree with you that a strong moral character requires religious belief, that's an argument for another day, and one we would likely not be able to resolve to our mutual satisfaction.
No control at all is needed and as usual is contraindicated. Those who don't chose to be a part of the religious structure simply lose the benefit of the safety net it provides, unless the structure of some religion allows them that protection due to its own tenets. That way you will over time see the growth and wider distribution of the most altruistic religion especially in times of greatest weakness in the economic structure, and a general waning of religion in the times of greatest prosperity, and the stingiest most restrictive religions will die out over time. It is a self regulating structure, as most parts of a truly free society are. In conclusion as you might expect those who chose to completely remain apart of the religious safety structure and then fall afoul of the economy will be left to their own devices by their own choices.

You see by your assertion that you MUST control the culture you assert that all MUST be protected. Part of freedom is allowing ALL to win success or pay for failure based solely upon their own choices. There is no need to protect everyone those who desire it will find protection and those who chose to do without it do so be their own choice.