No true Latter-day Saint and no true American can be a socialist or a communist

[Ezra]

J Ruben Clark was called into the 12 from having little church leadership. He was called by inspiration.

Most come from quorum of 70.

He was called because he was constitutional.

He was the last man to be called as a counselor in the First Presidency without first being ordained an apostle and, having held the priesthood office of seventy,

[dlbww]

Good thing Ezra T. Benson wasn't a GA in 1939. Me thinks he wouldn't have gotten along very well with Heber J. Grant and the Quorum of the Twelve back then.

...since all capitalistic systems are founded upon the institution of private property, inheritance and the profit motive, great inequalities of ownership and income inevitably result. ...Among the more plausible suggestions offered to correct existing abuses without adversely affecting the productive system, is to continue the socialization of our service institutions through a system of progressive taxation based upon ability to pay...taking the bulk of their [captains of industry] profits to finance free education, free libraries, free public parks and recreation centers, unemployment insurance, old age benefits, sickness and accident insurance, and perhaps eventually FREE MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL SERVICE (Emphasis mine). ...The average family may not have much more money, if any, to spend under such a system than now. But...then the meagre (sic) family income can be devoted entirely to the necessities of life, plus some of the comforts now enjoyed by the higher income classes. ...To finance all of this, of course, will necessitate huge sums of money. ...And it will also require a carefully worked out tax system so that every one will contribute according to his financial ability. Inheritance and estate taxes will become progressively higher, until the present system of permitting large fortunes to be passed on from generation to generation will become extinct. And incidentally, the so-called idle rich who have been living on the earnings of past generations will be no more."
(- Priesthood and Church Welfare; A Study Course for the Quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood for the year 1939 - prepared under the direction of the Council of the Twelve, pages 88-89 )

What you describe is a system that has been in place in North America for some time: social democracy. I'm not so sure ETB would be in opposition to this. What we are now seeing is a system that has lost sight of it's goal and is now doubling it's effort to get there. A system which destroys the agency of man and is in direct opposition to God's plan because it stifles the decision making process. And unfortunately much of the human race is lazy and is willing to give up agency for cradle to grave support/security. There is a consequence to this action embedded in the statement, "And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing" (Man's Search for Happiness).

Socialists seek to control every aspect of your life via government intervention. If they had the resources/support (and we are heading there) they would have a social worker on every doorstep checking children's lunches as they went off to school making sure the food conformed to some standard set by some committee paid for by the government with your tax dollars, etc.

[captainfearnot]

Socialists seek to control every aspect of your life via government intervention. If they had the resources/support (and we are heading there) they would have a social worker on every doorstep checking children's lunches as they went off to school making sure the food conformed to some standard set by some committee paid for by the government with your tax dollars, etc.

Yikes, that sounds bad. Almost as bad as BYU-Idaho.

Sounds like the church opposes socialism because they don't want the competition.