EPHRAIM ECONOMICS

Inheritances ............ A Place For Posterity

The law of God is very family oriented, indeed, the kingdom of God is family government from one end of the spectrum to the other. This is especially manifest in inheritances, land and properties that pass from one family generation to another.

An everlasting inheritance can only be received pursuant to the laws of God, by consecration. "Consecrations were made to God, not to the bishop or to the society. ... If all wealth and property were conse-crated to the bishop, he would then own and controle the wealth of soci-ety. This would foster priestcraft and a socialistic order. But by the Saints consecrating their wealth to God, the bishop was made a servant both of God and the people. ... Such a procedure assured that both the bishop and the individual would be responsible agents under God, rather than mere pawns of society. It was significant that the Saints were to consecrate their property to the Lord with a "covenant and a deed" that could not be broken. ... Each stewardship was to be deeded to the indi-vidual steward and secured to him legally, by the law of the land. ... Concerning inheritances [Joseph to Edward Partridge], you are bound by the law of the land, to give a deed, securing to him who receives in-heritances, his inheritance, for an everlasting inheritance, or in other words, to be his individual property, his private stewardship. And if he is found a transgressor and should be cut off, out of the church, his inheritance is his still, and he is delivered over to the buffetings of Satan, till the day of redemption. But the property which he conse-crated ... he cannot obtain again by the law of the Lord. Thus you see the propriety of this law, that rich men cannot have the power to dis-inherit the poor by obtaining again that which they have consecrated, which is the residue, signified in the law." (Doctrines of the Kingdom, pages 229-234)

There was no guess work, or chances to take, more than exist in any undertaking. When you gave your wealth you did it with a deed, you gave it away; when the bishop gave you an inheritance, consisting of lands and properties, he did it with a deed, he gave it.

We believe in the literal restoration of the House (race, lineage, nation, family) of Israel. For this to come about there must be: l)

a people descended from Israel, and 2) a place, an "everlasting in-heritance". An inheritance cannot be bought or sold but passes to

one's posterity, one's family. With an inability to lose the land comes the inability to become slaves. With everyone having their inheritance there is no place to build mega-factories or businesses or to speculate upon, etc. Big business is out and small business is in; the balance God wishes exists. "The Good Earth" portrays how interconnected we are with the land. To buy and sell land is only a step above buying and selling people, because without land men are reduced to slavery. The Indians referred to the earth as our "Mother" and certainly we must feed at her breast. The injustices we suffer, she also suffers, and when she is carved, butchered and sold, we feed, as it were, upon our very flesh and blood.

Production

The most efficient form of production, contrary to popular mass-media produced belief, is small business. People whose vocation requires them to exercise both their mental and physical powers are more capable of seeing and understanding the principles through which the heavens and earth are governed; it is by tapping into those principles, or keys of knowledge, that productivity, or creativity flows. It is worthy of note that the protestants of France, humble followers of Christ, known as Huguenots were, "... considered quite ordinary; shopkeepers, craftsmen, tradesmen, small employers. Only a few were of the higher or lower class." (Days of the Upright, page ___) With small business there is a unity of capital and labor, therefore unity in government. When capital and labor are divided the government is racked with legislation stacked up like tinker toys, each faction trying to get something over on the other; in so doing small business is systematically destroyed.

The United Order, as designated by God, is in reality a partnership of individuals wherein the "faithful and wise" are joined together, and the "unfaithful and unwise" are "removed". (see D & C 104:70-77) In a partnership men get together and check their resources, physical and mental; they reshuffle things some and set every partner over some department, all working together in unity; this is the United Order.

Every man in his department or stewardship, the lands and the build-ings, the tools and equipment, supplies, etc., are between him and God,

a sacred trust which no man has a right to interfere with; such are stewardships. If a partner pulls or is kicked out his stewardship goes with him.

Consumption

The housing, clothing, and feeding on one's family is what drives men to produce or provide. To become as one family, providing for one an-other, is the needed mind-set for a United Order.

There are many men who are extremely productive but also spend-thrifts. Only by determining equal portions per family can the dis-position to squander be arrested and at the same time have the binding effect that justice always creates. Like an allowance given to children

who are then allowed to indulge themselves, as they will. Equality isn't the same amount, or thing, but an equal chance to have that which we desire, which will be according to our circumstances, our wants, and our needs.

Distribution ............ The Lord's Storehouse

The storehouse supplants Banks, Insurance Companies, and Mercantiles of all types. What it amounts to is a consolidation of the fantastic panorama of distribution as we know it, virtually eliminating the mid-dlemen. An example of this can be seen in the system employed by the ancient Incas. "It was impossible - in the judgment of a high Spanish authority to improve on the system of distribution, so carefully was it accommodated to the condition and comfort of the artisan. ... A part of the agricultural produce and manufactures ... [were deposited] in maga-zines, whose design was to supply the people in seasons of scarcity, and occasionally to furnish relief to individuals whom sickness or misfor-tune had reduced ... These magazines were found by the Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with ... every article of luxury or use within the compass of Peruvian skill. The magazines of grain, in particular, would frequently have sufficed for the consumption of the adjoining district for several years. [Continuing on] If no man could become rich in Peru, no man could become poor. No spendthrift could waste his sub-stance in riotous luxury. No adventurous schemer could impoverish his family by the spirit of speculation. ... No mendicant was tolerated in Peru. When a man was reduced by poverty or misfortune (it could hardly be by fault), the arm of the law was stretched out to minister relief; not the stinted relief of private charity, nor that which is doled out drop by drop, as it were, from the frozen reservoirs of "the parish", but in generous measure, bringing no humiliation to the object of it, and placing him on a level with the rest of his countrymen. [Going back] Occupation was found for all, from the child five years old to the aged matron not too infirm to hold the distaff. No one, at least none but the decrepit and sick, was allowed to eat the bread of idleness in Peru. Idleness was a crime in the eye of the law, and, as such, severely punished; while industry was publicly commended and stimulated by rewards. ... the task of apportioning the labor was assigned to local authorities, and great care was taken that it should not fall dispropor-tionately on any." (Conquest of Peru Vol. I, pages 56-63)

The Counterfeit .............. or Fallacy

There have been, and now are, many attempts at the Lord's Economics, having all things common; from Christians to Hippies to, worst of all, atheists. None have succeeded in embracing that law of God that has been referred to, but all have fallen prey to this one single fallacy.

Among the atheistic Communists there is a saying: "From every man according to his ability, and to every man according to his need." It is a noble saying and true; unfortunately its truth is used to lure man into an indescribable horror chamber. How can any man produce according

to his ability when he must comply with someone over him? Someone jea-lous of his position and therefore resentful of anyone who excels. In Russia and China those who produced according to their ability, that had ability, simply dug their own graves. In such a system, incompetence reigns supreme. With the lack of production brings an inability to provide for needs. And as for distribution ... tons of food sat and rotted while millions starved. Although these are extremes, the principle has been the same in every attempt to live God's law of economics, even among the latter-Day Saints.

For "Under Communism (Christian or otherwise) a business cannot go bankrupt because the community, ... is compelled to bear the cost of mismanagement - to pay for what is done that should not be done, [and vice versa] ... a condition which, in a competitive economy, soon corrects itself, and not at the expense of the community, but at the expense of whoever supplies the capital. ... for a blind blockhead can make more mistakes in an hour than a capable man can unravel in a week. In a competitive economy, mediocrity bankrupts itself or the sponser; under Communism, or monopolistic Capitalism, mediocrity bankrupts the community." (Thugs and Communists, pages 95-96)