There is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding and, frankly, propaganda floating around regarding the issue of net neutrality. The FCC is expected to vote on a plan Tuesday (Dec. 21) to impose net neutrality rules. You can read about some of the common concerns here.

On one side of this debate, you hear from people concerned that big providers like Comcast will dominate the internet and prioritize and/or suppress certain traffic. On the other, you hear from people who point out, quite accurately in my opinion, who say that net neutrality simply involves government intervention where it is not necessary.

My argument is simple: the internet will change in the coming years, but because of all of the new technology that is coming out right now, the changes will make any additional regulation unnecessary.

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In this thread we are presented two visions of taxation in the comments. One vision, which I share, is summed up brilliantly by J. Max Wilson. He says that government-forced taxation does not create a virtuous society:

The goal of the Gospel is not to simply create a society that has “all in common.” It is to create virtuous, Christlike men and women. While a superficial equality could be achieved through the force of man made governments, it would be an empty equality, without virtue. The people would still be covetous in their hearts, literally “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

A directly opposing view is put forward by John F. John argues that taxation is a representation of a democratic society trying to solve societal ills. He specifically extols one country, Germany, which he feels has approached his ideal, a social market economy:

I simply meant to refer to the type of system that is in place in, say, Germany. You have a robust notion of private property, all fundamental rights, especially the Lockean triumvirate of Life, Liberty and Property; the economy is fundamentally based on the free market, which determines prices and everything is controlled by supply and demand; but it is appropriately regulated to prevent negligence, fraud, etc. — of course those won’t be an issue in Zion. Then there is the “social” aspect meaning that a framework has been set up that provides security for all citizens. This security includes education, access to preventative and responsive health care, codetermination in the workforce and worker representation in management, pensions, etc.

I believe John F’s viewpoint is widespread. I have read a long list of articles and books by both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars pointing to European social democracy as our earthly model.

There is a huge logical fallacy in this argument, however: loyal Church members in these socialist democracies still pay tithing and fast offerings. In fact, in many European countries tithing is not tax deductible, so the truth is that loyal European Saints pay more as a percentage of their income to the Church than do Saints in the United States. If Europeans are truly creating societies where all share goods in common and where there are no poor, why are they required to pay so much money in tithing and fast offerings? Fast offerings go to directly to the bishops — shouldn’t such offerings be unnecessary in Europe?

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In the latter days, we are spending a lot of time talking about taxes. One of the least discussed messages of the Scriptures is that taxes are seen as mostly negative. Taxes are almost always used by tyrants to build up themselves and large central governments that burden the people.

The best-known example is the Lord’s warning to the people regarding moving from a system of judges (small, local government) to a system of kings (large, central government). You can read about it 1 Samuel 8. Samuel gives a long speech warning the people that a king (ie, central government) will take away their crops, their herds and even their family members, who will be forced to join the king’s army. Samuel ends by saying: “and you shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

The Book of Mormon has an equally stark comparison: good King Benjamin and evil King Noah.

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The temple is the real world, and the real world is fantasy. How do I know?

My waist measures 35 inches. If I rent clothing at the temple, I do not fit into a 34-inch waist. I need to rent a 36-inch waist, which will fit well.

We are about to do our Christmas pictures, and my wife bought me some new trousers. She bought me a 33-inch waist. I said: “no way will they fit — I need a 35.” She said: “well, try them on.” I tried them on, and they fit perfectly.

So, in the real world, clothing manufacturers create a fantasy. That fantasy is that you can get older and fatter and still wear the same size clothing. The last time I was really a 33-inch waist was in college 25 years ago.

In the temple, the fantasy ends. You must face the reality of your expanding waist-line. Truth will prevail.

Today we will discuss the morality of prize-linked savings (PLS). What is PLS? It is the idea that you put money in a bank account and that instead of earning interest on that money, you join a lottery pool that is paid out with that interest. So, in theory you could put $100 in the bank and earn $1 million with your interest.

You can read more about PLS from the Freakanomics folks here.

The monetary advantage: you never lose the original $100. If you play the state lottery, the chances of you losing your investment are very, very high.
The monetary disadvantage: the chance of winning is still lower than your chance of earning interest on that money, even if you only get 1 percent a year in interest.

My question is: is there any moral difference between playing the lottery with the interest on your savings and playing the state lottery at your corner market? My secondary question is: would you pay tithing on your increase if you won a PLS (we already know the Church does not accept tithing on lottery winnings).

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