In the heart of the empire

Here in Salt Lake City, the promised land, the Heart of Utah, you'll find the most densely

populated, not 2 mention intense, places in the state. Unlike most of the United States, Utah has a functioning government, a theocracy, which collects taxes, mainly the tithe of 10% on household incomes, then redistributes the money both fairly & efficiently.

The freeways in Utah are intensively patrolled by cop cars, marked and unmarked, with 

the result that drivers R strongly motivated to avoid acting like imbeciles. I'm as opposed  as any body 2 over-policing, but putting the cops on Freeways 2 make the roads safe for traveling strikes me as a rational use of tax 
resources.

Likewise the disbursment of tithe money to aid the poor, indigent, widows and orphans of the state, for Utah famously takes care of its own. 

The Epicenter of this Empire of Deseret, a governmental entity which grows stronger as the official, US govt grows weaker & less able 2 project power, represents real power in an age of relative powerlessness.

The thing is you're not required to pay a tithe if you're not a church member, and just wanna live here among the Saints. I actually would feel kinda guilty about it if we lived here, but then if I thought about the Golden plates  the Nephites & the Lamanites & bands of Gadianton Robbers lurking in the hills, and all the rest of that moonshine, I think I'd prolly just wanta make a contribution... 

But I must say I like Utah, an orderly, functioning place set in a remote section of a largely dysfunctional DisUnited States. Some might describe the Republican & paternalistic theocracy as "semi-fascist,"& they may be right, but you'd be surprised how preferable it is 2 a void.

Illustration: Salvaged capstone from the nauvoo (Illinois) Temple.