Many children raised in any of the Abrahamic faiths will know the Biblical story of Joseph and his interpretation of Pharoah’s dreams – seven fat cows followed by seven scrawny bovines, seven ears of grain followed by seven ears of withering grain.
What did it mean? Egypt would have seven years of abundant harvest followed by seven lean years.
And what did that mean? Fill the storehouses to forestall future famine; commit some of the good harvest for the days ahead of less fortune.
It’s a great wisdom story for children to learn because – get this – even a child can understand it. Whether you’re in the money now, have good fortune in your life, or an abundance of anything, you should know that the good times never last. So, you prepare, you save, you survive.
Apparently, nations have forgotten this basic lesson. President Biden has already raided the nation’s strategic oil reserves, and many nations have only belatedly learned that globalization has its limits, that they are not sufficiently self-sustaining. Witness the international crisis over wheat harvests in Ukraine, or gas and oil shortages in several countries. China may be facing a looming demographic crisis because of its former “one child” policy, hence may not have enough productive workers going forward. I was just watching a BBC news segment on the drought in France and the looming threat of losing an entire maize harvest this year. German chancellor Olaf Scholz announced earlier this year that Germany was at die Zeitwende, or turning point, in its defense policy. The country simply had not prepared for a time when there might really be a military threat from its East, he admitted. You can come up with your own examples, of course.
The temptation to live for today and not for tomorrow is always great among politicians, and this may be more true in democratic countries than authoritarian regimes. Politicians are always running for reelection, and it’s not juveniles or babes in arms that are voting, but their parents. So, do we blame the people, or the politicians who pander to them? Either way, it’s not good leadership.
I’m dismayed at the quality of leadership in this country. There was a time when either major political party could come up with quality candidates for the presidency, as well as lesser offices, but I’d argue the last time that both parties did so at the same time for a presidential election was Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. Few people reading the post will recognize Stevenson’s name (former governor of Illinois; US ambassador to the United Nations in the John Kennedy administration), and maybe a few will recognize Eisenhower (supreme Allied commander during World War II; 34th US president).
I don’t have to tell you how politics is today, though for I don’t know what to say to people who think global warming isn’t real, or who think extreme income inequality does not lead to civil unrest and often revolution.
But for everyone else, maybe it is time to read the story of Joseph in Egypt, which I offer as a wisdom story, not necessarily as historical fact.
In fact, I have a better idea. Take out your smart phones, snap a picture of the relevant page from the Bible (Book of Genesis, 41), and send it to your Congressperson, Senator and/or the President.
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