No, I inferred no such thing. Joseph was a well-to-do businessman, clearly; but he was a hands-on type rather than your typical “crony” corporate type, with Jesus actively involved in the family trade. Joseph had no problem affording trips from Nazareth to Bethlehem (for the census), or to Jerusalem (for the festivals), or even to Egypt (to escape Herod’s pogrom).
Where, precisely, do you find crony corporatism in scripture? If Joseph was blessed was he not blessed with affluence? You have admitted as much. Carpenters were among the highest social caste in the ancient world. They provided virtually all of the acoutrements of comfortable living.
” Joseph was a well-to-do businessman, clearly”
No. Compare the following 2 passages of Scripture:
Luke 2 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Leviticus 12 6 “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8 AND IF SHE CANNOT AFFORD A LAMB, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons,[a] one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.
The offerings Joseph and Mary brought indicate that they were not well off.