Economic Interchange
“And behold, there was peace in all the land, insomuch that the Nephites did go into whatsoever part of the land they would, whether among the Nephites or the Lamanites.
And it came to pass that the Lamanites did also go whithersoever they would, whether it were among the Lamanites or among the Nephites; and thus they did have free intercourse one with another, to buy and to sell, and to get gain, according to their desire.
And it came to pass that they became exceedingly rich, both the Lamanites and the Nephites; and they did have an exceeding plenty of gold, and of silver, and of all manner of precious metals, both in the land south and in the land north.”
“And behold, there was all manner of gold in both these lands, and of silver, and of precious ore of every kind; and there were also curious workmen, who did work all kinds of ore and did refine it; and thus they did become rich.
They did raise grain in abundance, both in the north and in the south; and they did flourish exceedingly, both in the north and in the south. And they did multiply and wax exceedingly strong in the land. And they did raise many flocks and herds, yea, many fatlings.
Behold their women did toil and spin, and did make all manner of cloth, of fine-twined linen and cloth of every kind, to clothe their nakedness. And thus the sixty and fourth year did pass away in peace.
And in the sixty and fifth year they did also have great joy and peace, yea, much preaching and many prophecies concerning that which was to come. And thus passed away the sixty and fifth year.”
Free trade makes for a wealthy society. Common belief in society fosters commerce and makes society as a whole wealthy. Part of this has to do with specialization in industry. Specialization makes for higher quality products and services, and so long as everyone is contributing effort and work, that society will fluorish.
This points to another theme covered in previous posts about the value of networking. It was only by intermingling with other poeple that the society as a whole became “exceedingly rich”. As we individually intermingle with others and enlarge our network of contacts, friends, associates we a also more likely to “fluorish exceedingly”.
There are networking organizations whose sole purpose is to bring together people who have a common interest of passing leads to each other (I’m thinking of BNI). Personally, I know of the power of networking. Opportunities arise as you put yourself out there for people to know who you are and what you do. I’ve found a particularly helpful tool is connecting with people who are “hubs”. You know people like this… people who seem to know everyone or can easily become friends with everyone in a room. As you connect closely with people like this, they can help introduce you and your ideas around and help make opportunities.
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Eric, I love how well you bring Book of Mormon teachings on prosperity to light and make them relevant to modern times.
I wholeheartedly agree with the principle that exchange creates wealth. However, I’ve also experienced instances where this can be taken too far, just like any principle. Specifically, I think that hyper-specialization can often contradict prophetic teachings.
For example, we’re counseled to grow gardens, whereas the “wisdom of men,” as regards specialization, may teach that that is unnecessary — we should leave the growing of food to “specialists.” As J. Richard Clark taught, “There are some who feel that they are secure as long as they have funds to purchase food. Money is not food. If there is no food in the stores or in the warehouses, you cannot sustain life with money. Both President Romney and President Clark have warned us that we will yet live on what we produce.”
So I think there’s a definite interplay and balance between specialization and self-reliance. Specialization becomes dangerous when it leads to unwise dependence, and self-reliance can be counterfeited to develop into a scarcity-based “do-it-yourself” mindset.
I think the key is to understand prophetic counsel on personal finance holistically and comprehensively, so as to avoid taking any one principle out of context or elevating it to the detriment of others.
Stephen, My comments on specialization and subsequent wealth creation are at a societal level, but as individuals we certainly should ensure we have life sustaining skills and work towards being self-reliant.
Thanks for the excellent follow up on this post.
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?