On Zion and Compulsion

A popular e-mail making the rounds contains the following:

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. 

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all). 

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. 

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. 

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. 

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on)

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment :
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

This article does a great job at showing why socialism/communism will always fail.  However, it seems to also imply that inequality is therefore justified.

The Lord gave us this:

Section 70
14.   Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.

and he gave us this:

Section 42
42.   Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.

Is there a way to reconcile these two?  It seems obvious that socialism and communism are not the answer - but is there an answer?

This article to me seems to promoting inequality contrary to the Lord's command that we seek to be one.  I agree with the premise and statements above that force is the wrong way to bring about equality - but does that mean that we are free to disregard each other in our strengths and weaknesses?  Does the inevitable failure of a program designed to force a people to be equal justify the inequality in society of rich and poor?  Perhaps the problem in this example is that the teacher used force to try and compel something that needs to come from the heart of each student.

What if there were a story where the teacher does not impose any system on the students like that above?  What if the students who were doing well had compassion upon the students who were struggling?  What if the students had come together on their own as a group and had decided to take care of each other and help each other?  What if the students who were more strong academically felt the desire and the love for others so that they would be willing to spend extra time tutoring and helping the other students who are not as strong?  If they worked with each other to help each one succeed, then perhaps a grade of A could be achieved for all.

What if we didn't look to or expect a central figure or a government to force us to take care of each other?  What if we didn't expect government to solve a problem that we can solve ourselves?  What if we took compassion on each other in our strengths and weaknesses and strove to help each other balance the inequalities?  What if those with more gave out of their surplus to those with less through their own choice and simply out of love?  Could the idler be convinced to contribute through love?  Even if not, would it sill be possible to have a group of like-minded people who were willing and dedicated to working and helping each other?  Could such a group rise together on their own and become one?  Could they find a way to be equal so there were no longer rich and poor among them?

The government will never be able to "provide" a Zion-like solution because the government primarily operates through the means of force - and that won't work.  It is true that the government could encourage compassion and care and willingness to give and receive and take care of each other's needs; but in the end, the only solution that can work would need to come through each heart making a choice to do so.  A Zion-like society cannot be "provided", it must be "chosen".