Mark Twain said that the only two things that are certain is death and taxes. Both of these are seen in today's reading. Jacob draws near to his death, and the people of Egypt look to the government to avoid death by starvation. The government, through Joseph, helps the people in exchange for a flat tax of 20%. I imagine that there are many today who like to see such a low flat tax. It worked for Egypt, and I suppose it could work for us.
I find this to be fascinating, having once been a tax collector. The system used in Egypt was simple and straight-forward. The only ones exempt were the priests. Other than that, it made no difference if you were rich or poor -- everyone paid 20%. There was no complicated system, requiring multiple bureaucracies and officials to interpret and administer the laws involved. If you didn't pay, you didn't eat. Now I know that I am over-simplifying it, but I also know that it was considerably less complicated than what we face in modern day America. The government could be depended upon to fulfill their end of the agreement, and the people were happy to pay, because they were grateful for a benevolent government. Just seems to me that our current legislators could take a lesson.
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