By this point in the Book of Mormon, readers understand that when a people begin to desire gain and power that they are ripe for a fall. Mormon’s text elaborates that story over and over. We see it here in the briefest of statements, and with none of the textual hints that Mormon used to tell us that the fall was coming again. There is no “costly apparel” here. There is no neglect of the poor. We just see them desirous for gain and power. Nevertheless, the pattern will remain the same. They are ripe for destruction.