Actually, Socialism is as American as apple pie. Take a look at Francis Bellamy, who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. He was a Socialist. Take a look at Emma Lazarus, who wrote “The New Colossus,” the poem engraved at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. She studied socialist economics and was a stout campaigner for social justice. Take a look at that remarkable woman, Helen Keller, who overcame disability to fight for social justice. She was a Socialist. Take a look at the economic arguments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who argued that poor people be fed and provided basic necessities such as water. He read his Marx in school.

Freely given, universal public education? That’s a socialist idea. Lending libraries? Socialism. Providing health care to the poor so they can get ahead? Socialism.

You see, Socialism is the idea that we all must look out for one another. That sounds pretty American to me.

Sorry, Lucifer. Capitalism certainly works, but only for a very few people. For example, in the past four decades as the United States has embraced unregulated capitalism, the gap between the rich and poor has risen to levels not seen since the Great Depression. For the majority of Americans, income has not gone up at all when adjusted for inflation.

Becoming rich is an American dream, but really that’s just a nice little trick to get us to work harder for less and to go further into debt to buy things we probably didn’t need anyway. And, it’s a nice little trick to get us to support policies that help only the rich, because we all dream that we will join them (even as the rich do whatever it takes to prevent us from joining their club).

Sounds like the Devil’s work to me.

Socialism is love, born out of genuine affection for your fellow human beings. Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, European. Straight, Gay, Trans. Young and old. Able-bodied or disabled. Multi-generation American or fresh-off-the-boat immigrant. Socialism-as-love is based on the idea that we humans are more equal than unequal, and that competition and selfishness only hold us back. We are a social species, and if we act like it we all get ahead.

No, really! Utah might have one of the greatest histories of Socialism in all of the United States! Take a look at the Mormon Church’s Law of Consecration: “Under this law, all members were instructed to give all their property to the Church. Members would then be given stewardships of sufficient size to provide for their families. At the end of each year everything earned in excess of their needs was given back to the Church in order to provide for those who were unable to provide enough for themselves. The Law of Consecration would also make it possible for the Church to buy land for its members who continued arriving in ever increasing numbers. They needed to build meetinghouses, and the temple the Lord commanded them to build.”

In other words, members agreed: to each according to his or her needs, from each according to his or her abilities. No one is left behind in this vision of community. Why do you think Utah is the Beehive State? We all are to work together for the common good.

And broadly speaking, Socialism is far more in line with religious ideas of brotherly love, care for the poor, and rejection of greed than capitalism. Here in Utah, and all across the United States.