Keywords

welfare, consecration, charity, unity, Book of Mormon

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Relationships between people are influenced by what they share, their commonalities. Empathy is an important commonality enabling people to internalize each other’s well-being and create empathetic networks that can provide important economic and social advantages. Shared antipathy for another person or group is another commonality enabling people to create cheap networks. Cheap networks are inexpensive to create, but they are unlikely to provide the economic and social advantages of empathetic ones. Cheap networks focus mainly on defensive and destructive acts that often produce costly consequences. In addition, they can be taken over by strong leaders who use them to pursue their selfish ends. Cheap networks can be created by blaming others for unfavorable outcomes, lying, and ignoring the will of the people. This article describes and illustrates the high cost of cheap networks and how to discourage their formation using modern and Book of Mormon examples.