The Book of Genesis in the Bible relates the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery in Egypt, where through a series of events, he became second in command in the country. He instituted a taxation of grain upon the people in preparation for a coming famine. Storing up the grain, then during the famine he eventually wound up possessing most of the land in Egypt for the Pharaoh, and turning most of the population into indentured servants. This concentrated a tremendous amount of power into the hand of the Pharaoh. After Joseph’s death, a subsequent Pharaoh, with no appreciation for Joseph, proceeded to enslave the Hebrew/Jewish people, the descendants of Joseph’s family.
Joseph’s policies mimic the Socialist propaganda of today, which would dangerously concentrate too much power and authority into the hands of the government. Like Joseph, promising to store your grain for your benefit, the government takes your wealth, and turns it into power, and enslaves you. In the USA, we call it Social Security. Too much power, even in the hands of a just and righteous man like Joseph, resulted in bad things: the virtual impoverishment and slavery of the Egyptian population. The grain which he so graciously sold back to the Egyptians (and many others) was actually grain to which he had no right…it had been the property of the Egyptians population, and was “taxed’ away from them. Since they were very prosperous and “grain rich” at that time they evidently didn’t object very much. Only too late did they later realize the huge mistake they had made and the tremendous injustice which was unleashed upon them.
The Hebrews learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a free lunch. They also learned that you reap what you sow. Just as Joseph had enslaved the population of Egypt, years later the Hebrews were unjustifiably and unrighteously enslaved by Pharaoh.
I just hope this country (USA) does not repeat history in this manner. We have been slowly drifting as a nation, towards socialism. One former Presidential candidate is a proclaimed, avowed, socialist. College professors proclaim the evils of capitalism and sell “socialism” to their naive and trusting students. We have surrendered a lot of liberty after 9/11, and now with the COVID-19 virus pandemonium, are in the process of moving towards dependency on the government, and surrendering more freedoms; some justified, some inexplicable. Many of those freedoms are willingly surrendered by the people to the government in exchange for promises of safety. False promises I might add.
The Hebrews had to endure hellish treatment for years at the hands of their Egyptian taskmasters before God miraculously delivered them. It is hard to say how many years the people of this country will have to “pay the piper” should we make the error of choosing socialism. Gone are the days of “Give me liberty or give me death”. We have become too complacent in our prosperity. We also have a substantial sentiment that this prosperity has been achieved by illegitimate methods. This is irrationally being brainwashed into the minds of our children via our high school and college educational system.
We do not have much information on the spiritual condition of the Hebrews in the post-Joseph era when they were plunged into slavery. It is difficult to draw any conclusions. Generally speaking, God and socialism do not mix well. Pharaoh in Egypt was considered “God”. While government may not call themselves “God”, they insist on being treated as “God”: absolute obedience, pay them homage (they all have a title…and many are “The Honorable….so and so”). We pay them money in the form of taxes, surrender our children to them to be “educated”. Think you own your property? Try missing payment of your property tax and see what happens.
The Hebrews were enslaved for over 700 years. It took an improbable sequence of events which included Moses being raised and educated in an Egyptian palace, then killing an Egyptian, fleeing the country, encountering God in the form of a burning bush. This was followed by plagues, and the miraculous delivery of the Hebrews.
Freedom once surrendered is hard to recover. Just ask China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, and anyplace Socialism has taken over. Even in Joseph’s Egypt, socialism led to them from prosperity to disintegration. And we think we can make it work, when in the history of mankind, it has never worked. But we’re so smart, aren’t we?
Well, there is another Joseph who is a socialist. Like the Joseph from the Bible this Joseph may not even realize he is a socialist. Unfortunately, his role as a socialist is a factor of the confluence of a gradual philosophical transition motivated by avarice and greed, succumbing to the whims of corrupt advisors, and the complexities of a deteriorating aging brain. How long will it take for this 21st century Joseph to have his people fall into slavery? Unlike the Biblical Joseph, this new Joseph has already sold his soul to the devil, wittingly or unwittingly. The result is the same nonetheless. His people will be enslaved. I fear it will not take as long for the USA to be enslaved as it did the Hebrews.
Lost in the Fog 