Some years ago a lovely young woman whom I had known for years came to me as her priesthood leader. She was engaged and soon to be sealed in the temple. As she began her eyes filled with tears and she said, “I don't know whether I can go through with the marriage.” She then listed all the wonderful qualities she loved about him.

I said, “He sounds perfect what is wrong?” She replied, “I recently found out he reads the Wall Street Journal every day! How could I marry a man that reads the Wall Street Journal ?” she sobbed.

Stake Presidents are not suppose to break out laughing in interviews when someone is in such obvious pain but I couldn't help myself. I said, “Would it make matters better or worse if you knew I read the Wall Street Journal every day?” She was stunned but soon a ray of hope spread across her face and she said “Really?”

I then told her the Regional Representative in our area that she knew and respected deeply also read the Wall Street Journal . I went on to speculate that there were likely numerous copies of the Wall Street Journal floating around the Church office building. You have never seen anyone so puzzled but relieved all at the same time. She married her Wall Street Journal- reading prince charming and they seem to be living happily ever after.

This young woman was bright, intelligent, well educated and a returned missionary. She also somehow had the feeling that capitalism was evil and that the Wall Street Journal was the pornography of capitalism. I don't think she learned it in Seminary.

Can Church Members be Part of a Competitive Capitalist Society?

In my last column, I was commenting on the role of corporations in a capitalist society. This column is really a follow-up to that with an emphasis on how a Latter-day Saint can function in this world.

Last time I noted that corporations big and small must be responsive to their stakeholders to survive. Stakeholders include investors, employees, vendors, idea generators, management, government at multiple levels and — most important — the customer. Few entities have as many checks and balances. If they do not deliver, especially to their customers who vote every day with their pocketbooks, the corporation will cease to exist.

A few of the responses I received seemed to imply that I missed the point. Some felt corporations were unduly competitive and lots of innocent people got trampled in the process. One reader asked what the stand of the Church should be on all this competition.

We Must Live a Lower Law

I do not speak for the Church. I do not know that the Church has a stand on all this competition. However, I can read the scriptures. In my opinion the clearest example of the ideal society is described in 4 Nephi. “ And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free ...” (4 Nephi 1:3). “ And the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land ...” (4 Nephi 1:7)

What was required for this marvelous society to exist was a people where “ there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God ” (4 Nephi 1:15-16). The events that preceded this marvelous society included massive physical destruction that killed the more wicked part of the people, a personal visit of the resurrected Christ and the conversion of all to the gospel. I regret that observation suggests that Church members are not currently capable of living without contention, envyings and strifes. And I believe the world we must live in is even further from the ideal standard.

Because we are not currently capable of living a higher law, we are destined live a lower law. In this case I feel capitalism and free markets are superior to other known alternatives. I am not suggesting capitalism and free markets are revealed truths ? 4 Nephi is a revealed truth. I am suggesting capitalism and free markets are not inherently evil — just realities of a lower law. I think those who fear the Wall Street Journal do have a sense that capitalism and free markets are inherently evil.

Competition is a Good Thing but It can Get Ugly

At the core of capitalism is competition. Competition is a good thing, not an evil thing. I know it is often painful. I have lost plenty of times. Review once again Lehi's remarkable discourse on opposition. (2 Nephi 1-30) Competition fits right into the definition of “ opposition in all things ” (2 Nephi 2:11)

In a free capitalist society the corporation that competes best is the one that can figure out how all its stakeholders can win. You have heard of Steven Covey's win/win paradigm. Well this is win/win/win/win/win/win/win++ for all those corporate stakeholders. It is true that if corporation A figures out win/win better than their competitor corporation B, corporation B and its stakeholders are going to suffer. That prospect is the incentive for corporation B and all of its stakeholders to get on the ball and start winning. The result is an expanding economy and rising standards of living.

I am not naïve. I know how terribly ugly competition can get. I once had the opportunity to visit with a man who was coach of a professional basketball team. In fact, he was at the time the NBA's reining Coach of the Year. I asked him what he was working on in practice. He said, “Fouling!” “Fouling?” was my puzzled response. “Yes, fouling. If you are going to get called for the foul anyway you want to make it count. You want to make the opponent hurt so he'll be watching out for you next time!” He also described how they worked on fouling the opponent and not getting caught. This doesn't sound like win/win to me. In fact, it doesn't even sound like playing fair to me.

Competition all over the capitalist world is at least this ugly. It is true that many competitors and stakeholders are going to feel they got fouled and fouled hard and that the refs didn't even call it. It is the people playing the game that are at fault not the game. I am going to quote a scripture because of the marvelous principle it teaches but I am going to apologize in advance. I would never want any reader to think I view any corporation or worldly organization with the same respect and reverence that I view the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Still, imperfect people populate the Church. That leads the Lord to say this: “I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually —.“ (D&C 1:30) The organizations can be OK; it is just the people that mess them up.

Capitalism is not inherently evil; it is just a product of a lesser law that we must currently live under. Competition is not inherently evil, it is in fact good a good thing leading us to grow and be stronger and be more productive. But Old Scratch will try to infiltrate anything and infest it with evil. Evil does get into capitalism and competition.

Here, then, is the central question. Can a Latter-day Saint be part of the competitive business world and be true to gospel principles?

I believe strongly the answer is yes. I do not mean to be too personal here. I have spent my career in investments, arguably one of the most competitive industries there is. The chances for downright evil in my business are high. People are handling millions of dollars of other people's money. Frequently, huge dollar amounts are moving around with a simple phone call. Opportunities to skim a little off here and there abound for someone who really wants to beat the system.

I personally have devoted much of my time working within the profession to codify and enforce the ethical standards and practices of the business. I have discovered that the vast majority of those working in the business are highly ethical.

Allow me to offer these bullet points.

Not Every Story Has a Sunday School Lesson Ending ? But Many Do

I feel confident virtually all Meridian readers agree with these observations — in principle. I also feel that many feel such pious observations are way to simple for such a complex world. I understand.

I realize that not every story has a Sunday school lesson ending. But the longer I live the more I realize that most of them actually do.

Many years ago a man came to me as his bishop. He was employed in middle management of a large trucking company. He had become aware of widespread theft at the terminal where he was working. Workers would steal a single case or pallet off an entire truck. A network existed where the stolen goods were sold. Often the thefts were small enough to fall between the cracks in the record keeping and insurance covered what did get reported. It seems nearly everyone at the terminal was in on it, including the terminal manager.

My friend feared for his safety if he reported the activity to the corporate office. After much counsel and prayer he decided to report. An investigation uncovered the stealing not only at his terminal but also at a number of terminals through out the country.

My friend did get identified as the snitch and he received a number of threats. He was completely ostracized at work. Then instead of a badge of commendation from the CEO, he got fired. Seems the head office really didn't appreciate his stirring up a rats' nest. He couldn't get work anywhere in the trucking industry. He got tainted as the bad guy. He and his family suffered. It was taxing on his testimony. That was the state of things when I moved and was released. Certainly not a Sunday school lesson ending. Some years later I had occasion to learn the rest of the story. Today my friend owns a trucking company. He is a millionaire many times over and has reputation of conducting business on the principles of honesty and integrity.

Through out our lives we are taught to follow Christ and live His commandments. All of us have noticed that it frequently seems like those not playing by those rules are getting more money, more popularity and more power. This is also true in the competitive world of business. I can only repeat that the longer I live the more I have come to learn that difficult stories do have Sunday school lesson outcomes in the end. I believe that in the eternities all stories of correct behavior will have positive outcomes.

There Is Still More Good In the World than Bad

Here is the bottom line. The world is full of bad things, but I believe it is more full of good things. There are bad businesses but there are more good ones. There are people who do not play fair and give whatever activity they are involved in a bad name. I believe there are far more good people. If this were not so the world would already have plunged into the terrible circumstances described by the prophet Mormon. (Moroni 9)

The media do not help. Bad news seems to sell; good news does not. You never read a headline saying 99.9999% of all children came home safely from school today. Instead of a headline reading "Corporation X is restructuring due to competition ? 5,000 to lose their jobs," could we read a headline that says "Corporation X is restructuring due to competition — management figures out how to save 95,000 jobs."

Even the Book of Mormon is this way. I have referred several times to the perfect society described in 4 Nephi. Only 23 versus are used to describe this wonderful period of 200 years. Thousands of versus describe all the rest.