The contrast begins. Peace is now troubled by “disputings,” and righteousness is replaced by “pride and boastings.” What Mormon describes is the same cycle all over again. His mention of “great persecutions” signals that this is an internal contention, one seen only because a group sees itself as separate from and superior to another group. We can therefore surmise the return of social hierarchies based on wealth. The Mesoamerican mode of accumulating wealth brings with it the adoption of Mesoamerican worldly values that we have seen repeatedly in Nephite history. The problem is not simply the wealth but that the very definition of wealth carries with it the disease of social segregation, social hierarchies, and persecution of those lacking “wealth.”