WEBVTT NOTE First Secretary of Agriculture 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Farm Subsidies and How the Problem was Handled by the First Secretary of Agriculture 2 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:12.000 My story today is, I think, rather unusual. 3 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.000 First of all, I want to use the Bible as my text. 4 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:24.000 Now, that's a very difficult thing to do these days because whenever you mention the Bible, you usually run into two types of people. 5 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.600 Either those who are angry if you don't use it, or those who are angry if you do. 6 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:36.160 Now, I want to use it, and I don't want anybody to be angry, so I want you to understand 7 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:42.920 that I'm making use of the Bible not because I'm an advocate or an opponent, I'm making 8 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:49.040 use of it because it has a very good story in it that tells a very interesting lesson, 9 00:00:49.040 --> 00:00:53.120 and it's something that we might profit by whether you like the Bible or believe in it 10 00:00:53.120 --> 00:00:57.160 or not, the story is a crackerjack, and it ought to be known. 11 00:00:57.160 --> 00:01:02.080 So this goes back to the time, and you'll find this story, incidentally, in Genesis, 12 00:01:02.080 --> 00:01:09.680 and all I'm going to do is tell the story in, let me say, more or less, praxeological 13 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:10.680 terms. 14 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:11.680 Okay? 15 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:21.960 Anyway, this goes back to the time when Joseph was born and grew up to be a young lad of 16 00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:22.960 17. 17 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:32.840 May Recall, Joseph, he had two parents. Now, that's not altogether unique, but the interesting 18 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:39.360 thing about Joseph was that he was the child of the old age of his parents, and thus he 19 00:01:39.360 --> 00:01:44.000 turned out to be the youngest child. Usually the last one born is the youngest. And this 20 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:51.360 was true of Joseph, and he grew up with having a number of brothers who were older than he 21 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:57.980 ," you see, that follows when you're youngest. Now, Joseph, we begin to discover a little 22 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:04.880 bit about his character at an early age. He seemed to have a considerable amount of self-esteem. 23 00:02:04.880 --> 00:02:09.400 The first record we have of him indicates this little experience. Apparently he had 24 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:14.000 a dream, and he confronted his brothers and he said, fellas, I've had a dream last night, 25 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.280 and I want to tell you what it was. In my dream, all of you were shocks of wheat, and 26 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:26.120 And I was a shock of wheat too and in my dream all of your shocks bowed down to my shock. 27 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.200 And they said, that's rather shocking. 28 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:31.920 They were disturbed about it. 29 00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:34.680 But Joseph was not too upset about it. 30 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:39.000 He went about his business and confronted them on the following day and he says, fellas, 31 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:40.840 you remember I was telling you about my dream the other night? 32 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:43.820 Well, I've had another one and this one was in technicolor. 33 00:02:43.820 --> 00:02:45.280 This was a great dream. 34 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:53.440 He says, in this dream, all of us were stars in the sky. And dad and mom were there, too. 35 00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:59.320 Dad was the sun and mom was the moon. And my star was so bright that it outshone all 36 00:02:59.320 --> 00:03:03.640 the other stars and the sun and the moon. And in my dream, the sun and the moon and 37 00:03:03.640 --> 00:03:09.080 all the stars bowed down to my star. And they said, oh, brother. And they got a gunny sack 38 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:13.420 and put it over his head and said, where do we hide the body? And while they were debating 39 00:03:13.420 --> 00:03:21.820 ," and they decided they really ought not to kill him because dad would never forgive 40 00:03:21.820 --> 00:03:23.320 them. 41 00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:26.680 And just at the nick of time in true Hollywood style, what should happen? 42 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:35.860 But over the nearest hill came a caravan heading into the big city, and their commercial instincts 43 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:39.400 took hold, and they said, we can't sell him if he's dead. 44 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:44.260 So they tied Joseph up and put a gag in his mouth so he couldn't complain and they hailed 45 00:03:44.260 --> 00:03:48.400 the chief of the caravan and they said, we've got a runaway slave here, how much can we 46 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.560 get for him? 47 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:54.400 Well the price is recorded, they got 20 pieces of silver which is a pretty good price for 48 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:55.880 a runaway slave. 49 00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:02.800 Anyway Joseph was tossed up into the pannier of a camel and the fellows went back to tell 50 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:07.040 dad a cock and bull story that they'd invented in the meantime of how they'd disposed of 51 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:08.640 the body. 52 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:13.400 Anyway, as we say in Hollywood, the camera follows Joseph. He must have had a whale of 53 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:22.400 a ride. Anyway, it was going down into Egypt and it arrived at an oasis. This was where 54 00:04:22.400 --> 00:04:27.980 there was a fellow that had a ranch. An oasis is just a ranch with a well. That's what 55 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:34.020 this was. There was a ranch with a well that we call an oasis if you live over there. This 56 00:04:34.020 --> 00:04:39.520 Camel caravan came up and stopped to water the camels, and the man who owned the ranch 57 00:04:39.520 --> 00:04:42.880 came out to get the latest news. 58 00:04:42.880 --> 00:04:47.700 You see, this is before the days of the Los Angeles Times and the Santa Ana Register and 59 00:04:47.700 --> 00:04:51.540 things like that, and the only way you could get any information was by word of mouth. 60 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:56.380 So this caravan had pulled up, and the man who owned the ranch came out. 61 00:04:56.380 --> 00:04:58.360 His name is Potiphar. 62 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:04.760 And so he started talking to the captain of the caravan, getting the latest information, 63 00:05:04.760 --> 00:05:08.640 and he noticed that one of the panniers on the camel kept sort of jumping every now and 64 00:05:08.640 --> 00:05:09.640 again. 65 00:05:09.640 --> 00:05:12.160 And so he finally said, what have you got in there, you know? 66 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:17.440 Well, the fellow running the caravan was a little nervous about Joseph anyway because 67 00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:20.380 he didn't really have a verified bill of sale, you know. 68 00:05:20.380 --> 00:05:25.280 So he said, well, I've got a runaway slave, and if you're interested, I could sell him 69 00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:26.840 cheap. 70 00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:32.040 And Potiphar said, well, it just happens I could use another house servant, so if the 71 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.800 price isn't too high, why, we've got a deal. 72 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:35.920 This price is not recorded. 73 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.680 I don't know what the sale is. 74 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.520 I can only say I hope the caravan made a little profit here. 75 00:05:40.520 --> 00:05:47.720 But anyway, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, and then the caravan went on about its business. 76 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:52.520 And of course, poor Joseph just stood there, his hands were tied and the gag in his mouth. 77 00:05:52.520 --> 00:05:57.760 And after the dust from the caravan settled, Potiphar turned around and took out the gag 78 00:05:57.760 --> 00:06:03.640 and untied him, whereupon Joseph executed a little bow and said, Mr. Potiphar, sir, 79 00:06:03.640 --> 00:06:05.920 this is your lucky day. 80 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.240 And Potiphar said, it is what makes it so lucky. 81 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.560 He says, well, you've just met me. 82 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:16.440 And he says, of course, I know, I look like an ordinary guy, but actually I'm a genius. 83 00:06:16.440 --> 00:06:20.440 As a matter of fact, he said, I really have a pipeline. 84 00:06:20.440 --> 00:06:26.120 It isn't me, but I have friends upstairs. And if you are nice to me, everything is going 85 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:32.280 to work out. Well, Potiphar said, oh, is that so? So he said, let's put you to work and 86 00:06:32.280 --> 00:06:35.800 see what you can do. Well, it happened. Joseph had been raised on a ranch and he understood 87 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:41.720 farm work. And from the time Joseph got on that ranch, it prospered. The crops came in 88 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:49.600 well. The increase in the flocks occurred. Everything was really flourishing. And Joseph 89 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.320 Joseph was an ambitious young fellow and worked his way into the confidence of Potiphar and 90 00:06:54.320 --> 00:07:00.280 before long he was the head wrangler managing the affairs of the ranch. 91 00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:05.240 Well then one day there was a little problem that came up and Potiphar had to go into town. 92 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:07.900 Now Potiphar you have to understand is a man of parts. 93 00:07:07.900 --> 00:07:12.520 He not only had this ranch which he operated but in addition he was a captain of the Pharaoh's 94 00:07:12.520 --> 00:07:15.200 guard and then on top of that he also ran the jail. 95 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:19.160 I mean this fellow, you know, had his hand in both sides of the fence. 96 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:24.160 So he had to go in on the pharaoh's business and he left Joseph in charge of the ranch. 97 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.840 And what happened, we're not quite certain, you see, we get conflicting reports here, 98 00:07:28.840 --> 00:07:34.040 but apparently Joseph had to go into the house to look at last year's grape records and 99 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:39.360 as he was walking down the corridor, why Mrs. Potiphar accosted him. 100 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.960 Now, well, that's one of the stories at least. 101 00:07:42.960 --> 00:07:46.120 We're not sure who accosted whom, as a matter of fact. 102 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:51.020 But the upshot of it was that through some kind of a confrontation that occurred between 103 00:07:51.020 --> 00:07:58.120 her and Joseph, he left his cloak in her possession and skedaddled out of the building. 104 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:03.000 So when Potiphar got home that night, you know, and started to walk over to the house 105 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:08.600 to go in to get supper, why Mrs. Potiphar came running out of the house crying and she 106 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:13.260 said, oh husband, mine, what a terrible thing you've done to leave this whole property 107 00:08:13.260 --> 00:08:18.780 in the charge of this miscreant, Joseph, why he accosted me and he made absolutely improper 108 00:08:18.780 --> 00:08:24.920 suggestions to me, but fortunately I screamed and scared him away, but I grabbed his cloak 109 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:26.180 and see I have it here. 110 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:30.100 Well, of course, Joseph was standing there, you know, twisting his hat, first on one foot 111 00:08:30.100 --> 00:08:33.960 and then another, and finally he says, honest boss, you know, that's not quite the way 112 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:34.960 it was. 113 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:39.200 He said, now, I was innocently going in the house, I had to get these records, and she 114 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.200 grabbed me. 115 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:41.200 I'm ticklish. 116 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.840 I had to get away and I did, but I didn't say anything out of place or anything like that. 117 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:52.080 Well, Potiphar listened and weighed the evidence, what there was. Most of the evidence was just a cloak. 118 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:59.440 And he finally decided, rightly or wrongly, we don't know, and he took Joseph by the scruff of 119 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.200 the neck and took him over to the dungeon, which he was in charge of too, and threw him in. 120 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:09.440 Whereupon Joseph, who was never at a loss under situations of this type, turned around and said, 121 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:22.560 Joseph said, if I've got to be here in this crummy jail, how about making me a trustee? 122 00:09:22.560 --> 00:09:23.560 You know I'm a good organizer. 123 00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:27.400 I'll get this thing running at a profit, if you'll give me a chance. 124 00:09:27.400 --> 00:09:35.160 So Potiphar said, okay, you can be the head man on the inside, I'll be the head man outside. 125 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:37.120 Just as long as you stay in, you can run it. 126 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.740 And so Joseph did this, he took over, and you know he had that jail whipped around in 127 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:44.300 good shape in very short time. 128 00:09:44.300 --> 00:09:48.240 Now there's another part of this story that comes in, the Pharaoh at this time, he gets 129 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:49.500 into the act. 130 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:52.700 He's a very interesting man, this Pharaoh. 131 00:09:52.700 --> 00:09:56.800 He's something of a gourmand, you know, loved rich food. 132 00:09:56.800 --> 00:10:00.800 And he had a delicate stomach, he couldn't really handle it too well. 133 00:10:00.800 --> 00:10:09.480 So one night he apparently had an attack of indigestion, and he figured he'd been poisoned. 134 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:16.320 Well now, he knew he had it coming, but anyway, he went over in his mind who could have done 135 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:20.840 this to him, and there were only two people that had access to the food before it was 136 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:21.840 served. 137 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:25.240 One was the butler that actually served it, and the other was the baker that it cooked 138 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:05.720 ," and he went to the cell and said, What in the Sam Hill is the matter with you guys? 139 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:12.600 What are you crying about? And they said, Well, Joseph, we've had a dream. Well, now 140 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:16.440 that could get you. I mean, here's two guys and they had one dream, but this is before 141 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:24.560 Freud and you could do that. Anyway, they'd had this dream and Joseph said, Well, he said, 142 00:11:24.560 --> 00:11:33.520 If I know what you need is an interpreter, but human beings can't interpret dreams. 143 00:11:33.520 --> 00:11:38.000 But fortunately I do have connections and if you want to tell me what the dream is, I'll 144 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.240 see if I can get a message down. 145 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.560 So they told him their dream. 146 00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:45.800 There were slight variations, but fundamentally it's the same story. 147 00:11:45.800 --> 00:11:51.060 And Joseph listened to it and he said, yeah, I'm getting a signal, hotline's open. 148 00:11:51.060 --> 00:11:52.060 Here it is. 149 00:11:52.060 --> 00:12:10.060 What your dream signifies is that within three days the Pharaoh is going to have a birthday party and at that time you both are going to be taken out of the jail and you're going to be adjudged and one of you is going to be returned to favor and the other is going to be hanged. 150 00:12:10.060 --> 00:12:16.060 You know, they both thanked him, which sort of creates the impression in my mind that maybe they both thought they were innocent. 151 00:12:16.060 --> 00:12:18.060 The chances are pretty good that they were. 152 00:12:18.060 --> 00:12:48.060 The Federal Reserve, fiat money, fractional reserve banking, Human Action, 153 00:12:48.060 --> 00:12:49.860 Money or Property or Anything. 154 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:54.460 But if you thought you were wrong, well then you were put to death and there were a number 155 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:58.260 of ingenious ways of doing it, colorful, you know, to amuse the crowd. 156 00:12:58.260 --> 00:13:04.180 So anyway, this was a big gala for the birthday and the two fellows were taken out and the 157 00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:09.420 butler was restored to favor and the baker was hanged. 158 00:13:09.420 --> 00:13:14.300 Well, the butler came back to the jail to pick up his shaving kit and other things and 159 00:13:14.300 --> 00:13:18.340 He ran into Joseph, and Joseph said it worked out, huh? 160 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:20.220 And he said, yes, boy, you're great. 161 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:23.420 You're the best dream interpreter I ever ran into. 162 00:13:23.420 --> 00:13:27.060 And Joseph said, well, keep it in mind, he says, you know, I know I'm head man in the 163 00:13:27.060 --> 00:13:30.620 jail, but, you know, I've got bigger ambitions than this, so put in a good word for me when 164 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:32.260 you get up in the palace. 165 00:13:32.260 --> 00:13:37.140 And the butler promised to do this, but he completely forgot it, and he went up to his 166 00:13:37.140 --> 00:13:42.060 resort to favor, and two years went by with Joseph still there in the jail. 167 00:13:42.060 --> 00:13:47.100 And then this, the Pharaoh had another problem. Again, he'd overeat and this time he had, 168 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:52.540 he had a real dream. And as a matter of fact, he woke up screaming. And the dream that he'd 169 00:13:52.540 --> 00:13:56.940 had, it's one of the most famous dreams in all literature. I'm sure you remember it. 170 00:13:56.940 --> 00:14:01.520 It's the one where the seven cows come up out of the river and they move into the field 171 00:14:01.520 --> 00:14:07.060 and they start devouring the corn. And then seven lean cows come out and they devour the 172 00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:12.660 The Fat Cows, and it's a big thing, and that's what scared the Pharaoh, because cows are 173 00:14:12.660 --> 00:14:13.660 vegetarians. 174 00:14:13.660 --> 00:14:19.580 So anyway, he woke up in the middle of the night screaming, and he called for his soothsayers 175 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:24.620 and necromancers and economists, anybody, it was not particular. 176 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:27.500 He asked him to come in and interpret his dream. 177 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.680 Well they came in and they started trying to interpret it, and the more they told him 178 00:14:30.680 --> 00:14:35.160 about it, the less he understood, and he was getting a good hit of steam on and getting 179 00:14:35.160 --> 00:14:42.160 The Federal Reserve, fiat money, fractional reserve banking, Human Action and State, The Theory of Money and Credit 180 00:15:05.160 --> 00:15:10.520 Perfumed, took a shower, put on clean clothes. I mean, this is his court appearance and he's 181 00:15:10.520 --> 00:15:15.040 going to make an impression. So he got himself ready. And when he was ready, and of course 182 00:15:15.040 --> 00:15:20.040 the Pharaoh was stewing, you know, and got pains all the time, so finally Joseph put 183 00:15:20.040 --> 00:15:24.980 in an appearance and bowed very graciously and said, O Lord of the North and South, ruler 184 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:30.280 of the two lands, what may thy most humble servant do? And the Pharaoh said, I've had 185 00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:40.280 Joseph said, well, as a matter of fact, he said, only the divine can interpret dreams. 186 00:15:40.280 --> 00:15:46.280 Fortunately, I'm here. If you'll just tell me what the dream is, I'll see if I can get an interpretation. 187 00:15:46.280 --> 00:15:51.280 And the Pharaoh told him the dream, and Joseph said, well, actually, it's fundamentally simple. 188 00:15:51.280 --> 00:15:59.280 You see, the seven rich cows, the seven fat cows, that indicates seven years of plenty that are coming to the land of Egypt. 189 00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:01.280 The Theory of Money and Credit 190 00:16:29.280 --> 00:16:34.600 Walter, I never heard of anybody like that. What does he do? Well, you give him economic 191 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.720 control of all the food. That's what he does. And you see, what you have to do, you 192 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:44.840 have to get a picture. You see, in the lean years, you get kind of a trough. It's a 193 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:48.660 depression. There isn't enough to go around. But remember, you've got some good years 194 00:16:48.660 --> 00:16:55.040 ahead of it. Now, that's a convex. See, this is concave, the other is convex. So when 195 00:16:55.040 --> 00:17:01.160 When you have the surpluses, you take them away and you store them for the bad times that 196 00:17:01.160 --> 00:17:04.980 are coming, and then you have the ever-normal granaries, it just goes across even. 197 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:07.680 You don't have too much to begin with, you don't have too little later. 198 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.960 And he said, so get yourself a secretary of agriculture, and he started to bow out again. 199 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:16.280 The Pharaoh said, now wait just a minute, you don't leave till I tell you to. 200 00:17:16.280 --> 00:17:19.280 I never heard of this job before, but that's a pretty good idea. 201 00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:20.280 What are you doing right now? 202 00:17:20.280 --> 00:17:25.560 Joseph said, well, as a matter of fact, I'm not too busy. 203 00:17:25.560 --> 00:17:30.920 And the Ferris said, okay, how would you like to be my secretary of agriculture? 204 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:32.800 Joseph said, what's in it for me? 205 00:17:32.800 --> 00:17:34.360 Well, what's in it? 206 00:17:34.360 --> 00:17:35.760 He says, I'll tell you what's in it. 207 00:17:35.760 --> 00:17:38.840 You get to be the number two man in the kingdom. 208 00:17:38.840 --> 00:17:40.920 After me, you come first. 209 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:46.320 And he says, I'll give you, I'll even build a new building for you. 210 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:51.720 You get a whole bureau with all the bureaucrats and secretaries and I'll get you a new chariot 211 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:59.260 and people to run in front and throw out flowers and say, gangway, gangway for the Lord High 212 00:17:59.260 --> 00:18:01.760 Secretary of Agriculture. 213 00:18:01.760 --> 00:18:04.560 Joseph said, I'll take it. 214 00:18:04.560 --> 00:18:07.960 The Pharaoh actually handed him a ring and said, wear this and anytime you flash that 215 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.080 ring, the rest of you people keep that in mind when you see that ring, jump because 216 00:18:12.080 --> 00:18:36.080 Joseph took over and what did he do? He imposed a tax on the people of Egypt, a tax to be paid in produce, not in money, because the people didn't have the money. So he taxed them one-fifth of all they produced. 217 00:18:36.080 --> 00:19:06.080 but times were good and the people could pay it so they got their drays and their camels and their carts and they dragged it in to the central city and Joseph had his bookkeepers come out and they checked it off and gave everybody a tax receipt you know and then they started storing it and this went on for seven years the crops were plentiful the times were good the people didn't complain because they had enough and they could pay their taxes too so all went well for seven years and then the dark days came 218 00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:12.080 It came. Whether the dark days were precipitated in part by the tax, I don't know. But it 219 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:17.960 came. It is said, in fact an inscription appears in one of the pyramids on this point, that 220 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:25.280 there was a year when the Nile failed to overflow. And in Egypt that Nile is the thing on which 221 00:19:25.280 --> 00:19:30.720 farm life, in fact virtually all life, depends. And without the Nile overflow there was no 222 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:40.640 No Crop, and famine descended upon the land even as Joseph had predicted. So the land 223 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:48.160 turned dry and great cracks ran through it, and the birds fell down and died and nothing 224 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.660 grew, and at the end of the growing season there was no harvest, and the farmers were 225 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:58.560 now poor and the people had nothing. So they got together and they came into the central 226 00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:05.560 The Federal Reserve, fiat money, fractional reserve banking, Human Action, Man Economy and State, The Theory of Money and Credit 227 00:20:28.560 --> 00:20:33.520 he's in charge of famines so if you just go over there and make your appeal to him everything will 228 00:20:33.520 --> 00:20:38.880 be all right so they got up and dusted themselves off and they paraded around the secretary of 229 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:44.080 agricultural building and then they prostrated themselves there and they said oh great secretary 230 00:20:44.080 --> 00:20:49.840 of agriculture thy people starve and Joseph came out on the top step he didn't have a balcony 231 00:20:49.840 --> 00:20:56.880 and he said have you got any complaints and they said no we're just hungry well he said uh that's 232 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:57.880 It's odd. 233 00:20:57.880 --> 00:20:59.520 He said, I thought you produced the food. 234 00:20:59.520 --> 00:21:02.680 They said, we did, but we didn't get any this year. 235 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.400 He says, well, I've got grain. 236 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.760 They said, yeah, we remember. 237 00:21:07.760 --> 00:21:11.360 He says, well, I could let you have some grain. 238 00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:13.780 And they said, well, that's wonderful. 239 00:21:13.780 --> 00:21:17.280 He said, naturally, you people wouldn't want it handed to you. 240 00:21:17.280 --> 00:21:19.000 He says, I'll sell it to you. 241 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:20.560 Well, they said, that's all right. 242 00:21:20.560 --> 00:21:21.560 We've got our pride. 243 00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:22.680 We'll buy it. 244 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:25.080 He said, fine, I'll sell it to you. 245 00:21:25.080 --> 00:21:29.800 And he did. He sold them grain for their money. Now, the price isn't mentioned in the good 246 00:21:29.800 --> 00:21:33.840 book, but if you take a look, you discover that he took all the money they had, because 247 00:21:33.840 --> 00:21:39.600 the next phrase says, and the money failed. He got it all. But he gave them grain in exchange 248 00:21:39.600 --> 00:21:43.480 for their money, and they were happy, because they got fed, and so they took their grain 249 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:50.960 back out, and everything was fine. But you see, the next year, there was no produce either. 250 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:54.860 And so this time, the people were really in dire straits, and they came back again, and 251 00:21:54.860 --> 00:21:59.060 This time they didn't even fuss with the palace, they knew where the grain was, so they did 252 00:21:59.060 --> 00:22:04.740 their demonstration and they went over there and said, oh great Joseph, thy people starve, 253 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:05.740 we're back. 254 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:08.700 And he said, I see that you are, and I still have grain. 255 00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:13.180 And they said, yeah, we know, we saw the supplies, looks like a good supply. 256 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:14.980 He said, well, fine, I'll sell you some more. 257 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:18.940 And they said, sell, who's kidding who, you took all our money last time, we haven't got 258 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:19.940 any money. 259 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:22.580 Oh, he says, I'm not a hard man, you must have something. 260 00:22:22.580 --> 00:22:28.580 And he said, well, all we've got is the tools of production, you know, the oxen and the carts and the tools, things like that. 261 00:22:28.580 --> 00:22:34.580 He says, all right, I'll take that. So he did. He took their tools in exchange for grain. 262 00:22:34.580 --> 00:22:40.580 But they were happy, what the heck they could eat. So they took their grain and they went back and another year went by. 263 00:22:40.580 --> 00:22:47.580 And then they came back the next year realizing that they were now powerless to produce because they didn't have the tools. 264 00:22:47.580 --> 00:22:51.580 And so they were really in even a worse condition than before. 265 00:22:51.580 --> 00:22:56.140 and this time when they appealed and they went through this same little pantomime 266 00:22:56.140 --> 00:23:01.140 why Joseph said okay I'll sell you some grain what do you give me for it and they 267 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:05.980 said now look you know you've gone far enough you have everything that isn't 268 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:11.300 nailed down he said well you've still got the land they said yes we do says 269 00:23:11.300 --> 00:23:16.580 I'll take that so they deeded their property over to Joseph in exchange for 270 00:23:16.580 --> 00:23:46.580 and the next year when they came back they had nothing in fact he had let them go back to live on his land and now when they came they were completely destitute and he said now my friends we solve the problem because from here on the government of Egypt is going to take over and you don't have any more worries you just sign in as a bonded slave of the Pharaoh and Joseph 271 00:23:46.580 --> 00:23:51.580 And the minute you do that, your problems are taken care of. 272 00:23:51.580 --> 00:24:00.580 Because from this time on, we'll let you go ahead back to your own places that used to be yours, they're now mine, and I'll lend you the tools. 273 00:24:00.580 --> 00:24:07.580 And I'll provide the seed, whatever you need, and you can produce for Egypt. 274 00:24:07.580 --> 00:24:13.580 And all we ask is that you turn over 20% of everything you make and you can keep the rest. 275 00:24:13.580 --> 00:24:36.020 Now, nothing seemed to happen to Joseph. 276 00:24:36.020 --> 00:24:40.180 The story goes on in the scriptures to tell us about how he brought his brothers in, and 277 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:42.740 they too came in to get food and so on. 278 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:48.460 But there's an interesting development that began to occur in another neighboring country 279 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:52.660 where there was another king that learned of what was going on in Egypt and he sent 280 00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:55.200 spies in to find out about it. 281 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:00.520 And the spies came back and reported and they said to him, there is a man in Egypt whose 282 00:25:00.520 --> 00:25:07.780 name is Joseph who is either the greatest genius who ever came down the cosmic pike 283 00:25:07.780 --> 00:25:18.860 or he's psychoceramic. That's a crackpot. So the king said, how do you know which is 284 00:25:18.860 --> 00:25:24.460 which? And they said, we can't tell. But this fellow has become a secretary of agriculture 285 00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:29.220 and he has established an ever normal greenery. And it's either going to mean plenty and prosperity 286 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:33.940 for Egypt from here on or they're going to go broke. And the king said, let's wait and 287 00:25:33.940 --> 00:26:03.940 and so with the passing of time Joseph lived out his life and the Pharaoh that he served lived out his and then a new Pharaoh came to the throne but as the new Pharaoh came to the throne the economy of Egypt collapsed permanently and when the neighboring country made this discovery then a great army was raised and it came across the Egyptian border sweeping all before it and at this time 288 00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:11.580 Men ran into the Pharaoh, crying, O great Pharaoh, come and save thy people. 289 00:26:11.580 --> 00:26:16.340 And the Pharaoh hitched up his chariots and he went out calling on the people to rise 290 00:26:16.340 --> 00:26:20.300 to be his army, to defend their land. 291 00:26:20.300 --> 00:26:27.180 And the people looked up from the places where they were laboring as serfs in the field, 292 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:31.340 and they had the expression of dumb driven cattle on their faces. 293 00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:40.340 And they said, Who, me? I should volunteer for a war like this? It is a matter of supreme 294 00:26:40.340 --> 00:26:47.580 indifference to us who is Pharaoh. We don't own anything. We don't own our own lives. 295 00:26:47.580 --> 00:26:53.940 We don't own the land that we till. We don't own anything. Ownership has ceased to exist, 296 00:26:53.940 --> 00:27:02.340 and with it our freedom. So go ahead and have your war, but I will not help you." 297 00:27:02.340 --> 00:27:08.960 And so the invading army swept over Egypt like a scourge of locusts, and that particular 298 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:17.260 kingdom was overthrown. Now, as you realize, I've taken a few liberties with the script. 299 00:27:17.260 --> 00:27:22.100 But I haven't taken any liberties with the story, because that's the story that you'll 300 00:27:22.100 --> 00:27:28.180 will find if you take a good look at Genesis and read the story of Joseph. 301 00:27:28.180 --> 00:27:33.500 And some of what I've told you, where it touches on historic events, is factual. 302 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:39.260 The invasion of the Hittites and the drying up of the Nile, those are true. 303 00:27:39.260 --> 00:27:42.500 And for all I know, the whole thing may be true. 304 00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:49.520 What is important to realize is this, that when people become dependent on the government, 305 00:27:49.520 --> 00:27:56.360 When they ask the government to solve their problems in any area, government doesn't solve 306 00:27:56.360 --> 00:27:58.860 problems. 307 00:27:58.860 --> 00:28:07.040 And the conditions that may have been bad become worse, and in the end freedom is lost, 308 00:28:07.040 --> 00:28:11.800 and people revert to slavery and oppression.