An Essay About How the U.S. Government Lies, Cheats, and Steals

The Book of Mormon declares with prophetic precision that in the last days, secret combinations (or secret societies) would rise to prominence—combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22) and which would overthrow freedom, destroy nations, and plunder the people. These conspiratorial systems, according to the prophets, rely on lies, theft, murder, bribery, and shadowy networks of influence and power. They operate within and alongside legitimate governments, eventually consuming them from the inside.

In the modern United States, the federal government has become a maze of corruption, pay-to-play influence, corporate capture, elite enrichment, and systemic theft through inflation, debt creation, oppressive taxes, and regulatory extortion.

John and Nisha Whitehead’s article, “America’s Crime Syndicate Government: Profiteering, Protection Rackets & a Pay-to-Play Presidency,” offers a devastating description of a government that now functions less as a constitutional republic and more as a criminal syndicate—a “shadow government” that preys upon its own citizens while enriching politically connected elites.

This essay demonstrates that the warnings found in the Book of Mormon align with uncanny accuracy with what the Whiteheads describe. Taken together, they reveal that the U.S. federal government has become one of the most obvious and brazen fulfillments of the prophecies concerning end-time secret combinations.

For other unique approaches to this topic, I invite you to also read my essays: “John Wick and Secret Societies,” “Why Governments Hate Christians,” and “The Assassination of Saints and Prophets, e.g., Charlie Kirk.”

Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon: A Prophetic Blueprint

Few Christians appreciate the fact that the Book of Mormon contains the most sophisticated and detailed scriptural analysis of political corruption known to man. These texts outline five core attributes of secret combinations (or secret societies)—attributes that stand as a prophetic template for political corruption for all time.

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1. They Operate in Secrecy

Secret combinations “plot in darkness” (2 Nephi 10:15) and “take oaths” binding members to secrecy and mutual protection (Helaman 6:21-23). These oaths protect guilty members from accountability, shield criminal actions, and maintain insider privilege.

The Gadianton robbers used signs, tokens, passwords, and a shared network of elite influence: “They had signs among the people, which they did use to distinguish a brother who had entered into the covenant.” (Helaman 6:22)

This is a direct parallel to modern political insiders, lobbyists, corporate interests, technocrats, and unelected bureaucrats who operate with their own networks, codes, and mutually protective relationships.

2. They Seek Power, Gain, and Praise

Moroni writes bluntly: “whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed…”(Ether 8:22)

Similarly, Nephi states that “priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world…” (2 Nephi 26:29). Statecraft, through secret combinations, is no different. The objective is dominion—to “get gain and praise of the world.”

This was described vividly in about 23 B.C., by another prophet who said: “And seeing the people in a state of such awful wickedness, and those Gadianton robbers filling the judgment–seats—having usurped the power and authority of the land; laying aside the commandments of God, and not in the least aright before him; doing no justice unto the children of men; condemning the righteous because of their righteousness; letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money; and moreover to be held in office at the head of government, to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world, and, moreover, that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills—” (Helaman 7:4 – 5)

3. They Corrupt Institutions from Within

The Gadianton robbers infiltrated the government and judiciary until: “The more part of the judges had been corrupted by the Gadianton robbers.” (Helaman 7:4)

Soon, it was no longer criminals corrupting government—it was government itself becoming filled with criminals. The entire government becomes a criminal syndicate.

4. They Overthrow Freedom and Establish Tyranny

Secret combinations enslave: “They shall cause the destruction of the people… and the overthrow of the freedom of all nations.” (Ether 8:25)

The overthrow of freedom inevitably leads to moral decline, economic ruin, and eventual destruction. It’s as predictable as math.

5. They Are a Defining Sign of the Last Days

Moroni warns directly: “It cometh in a day when they shall say: Peace, peace, and there is no peace; and the destroyer of the wicked shall perform his work in darkness.” (Mormon 8:31)

The last days will be marked by widespread corruption, hidden criminal networks, and the appearance—but not the reality—of peace and justice.

U.S. Federal Corruption: A Modern Secret Combination

The U.S. federal government now operates like a mafia-style protection racket, where the powerful profit from insider connections and the average citizen is extorted, surveilled, taxed, coerced, and deprived of liberty.

This corruption structure is predictable and easily identifiable. It always includes:

A. Pay-to-Play Presidency

Political influence is purchased—not earned:

• Those who donate get appointed.
• Those who lobby get access.
• Those who fund campaigns get favorable legislation, contracts, and regulatory exemptions.
• Those who control federal agencies use them to crush competition.
• Those who sell their souls to the devil get immunity and lucrative business opportunities.

This is the modern equivalent of the Gadianton robbers buying judges.

B. Government as a Protection Racket

A protection racket is a criminal system where a group threatens harm and then demands money to prevent the harm they themselves cause.

The U.S. government behaves exactly this way:

• Regulatory agencies impose crushing burdens—then offer waivers or exemptions to politically connected corporations.
• Law enforcement seizes assets through civil forfeiture without trial, then forces citizens to pay to get them back.
• The IRS penalizes and audits regular citizens mercilessly while large corporations negotiate special tax provisions.
• Congress manufactures crises (shutdowns, fiscal cliffs) and then passes trillion-dollar spending packages that enrich insiders.

This is a ransom system, not a republic.

C. Endless Wars = Endless Profits

The military-industrial complex profits from perpetual conflict:

• Defense contractors receive blank-check contracts.
• Politicians who approve wars receive donations and lucrative appointments from the same contractors.
• The intelligence and police agencies function without accountability.

This mirrors the Gadianton robbers, who “did stir up the people to wars and contentions” in order to profit from chaos.

D. Corporate-Government Fusion: Fascism in Practice

Under this new brand of fascism, corporations now wield governmental power:

• Google, Amazon, and others partner with intelligence agencies.
• Pharmaceutical companies influence (and practically own) the FDA and CDC.
• Big tech platforms coordinate censorship with government officials.
• Wall Street banks write financial policy and control the Federal Reserve.
• The NTSB and FAA are in the pocket of the airlines and airplane manufacturers.

This fusion of corporate and state power is the essence of fascism—and the Book of Mormon explicitly warns of private conspiracies seizing control of public institutions.

E. Surveillance State = Total Domination

The government logs every message, tracks every phone, surveils every citizen, and stores the data indefinitely.

This fulfills Helaman 6:30: “Satan had great dominion… because of the secret works, and the combinations of the people.”

Domination is the goal. Privacy is their enemy.

Parallels Between Book of Mormon Secret Combinations and the U.S. Government

Here, the patterns line up point-for-point:

A. Secrecy

• Lobbyists meet behind closed doors.
• Intelligence agencies conduct activities without public oversight.
• Congress passes thousand-page bills no one reads.
• Federal budgets hide trillions in unaccounted-for spending.
• Black sites, black budgets, black operations.

Parallel: Gadianton covenants “kept from the knowledge of the people” (Helaman 6:26).

B. Power and Gain

The Book of Mormon says secret combinations exist to “get gain” and “murder to get gain.”

The U.S. government:

• Funnels money to political donors.
• Award contracts to corporate allies.
• Uses war to enrich defense contractors.
• Uses inflation to enrich government and Wall Street.
• Uses debt to transfer wealth to insiders.
• Allows foreign entities and Private Investment Firms like Blackstone to buy up massive quantities of real estate, driving real estate prices sky-high!

Parallel: Ether 8:16—“Seek for power and gain.”

C. Corruption of Leaders

Helaman 7:5: “The judges had been corrupted by the Gadianton robbers.”

Today:

• Congressmembers routinely trade stocks based on insider information.
• Supreme Court justices receive gifts from billionaires.
• Presidents and vice presidents have influence-peddling scandals.
• Government agencies hire from the industries they regulate.

This is not accidental decay—it is systematic capture and corruption.

D. Control Through Fear and Crisis

Secret combinations “stir up the people to riotings” (3 Nephi 7:5) to consolidate power.

Modern parallels:

• Manufactured fiscal crises.
• Manufactured political outrage.
• Threat inflation and fear campaigns.
• Emergency powers repeatedly invoked but never rescinded.
• The security state surveilling everyone.

Crisis is the excuse. Power is the goal. This is state-driven PSYOPS.

E. Destruction

Just as the Nephite nation collapsed under the weight of its internal corruption, the U.S. system is now in advanced decay:

• Trust in government is at historic lows.
• National debt beyond repayment.
• Inflation is destroying purchasing power.
• Institutional legitimacy is collapsing.
• Political polarization engineered from above.

The Book of Mormon warns that secret combinations are the final catalyst of national destruction. We are seeing this in real-time.

The Government’s Monetary System as Brazen Theft: Inflation, Debt, and the Looting of the People

Here lies the most explicit fulfillment of prophecy.

The Book of Mormon repeatedly warns that secret combinations “plunder the people” (Mosiah 11:2; Helaman 7:5). This means covert theft using institutional power.

A. Inflation: Theft of Purchasing Power

When the government prints trillions:

• The wealthy with assets get richer.
• The poor with cash get poorer.
• Savers lose value.
• Prices rise.
• Wages stagnate.

Inflation is not an accident—it is engineered theft.

The government steals without ever sending an agent or signing a warrant. This is legalized plunder.

B. Debt Creation: Enslaving Future Generations

The federal government creates debt it cannot repay:

• $34 trillion and rising.
• Debt used to finance corruption and political favors.
• Future taxpayers forced to pay the interest.

This mirrors Mosiah 11:3, where King Noah taxed the people “one-fifth of all they possessed” to fund his lascivious lifestyle and government corruption.

C. Devaluation of the Dollar: Destroying the People’s Store of Value

As Moroni said: “They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries.” (Mormon 8:37)

The dollar loses value not because of market forces but because the government chooses to inflate:

• The Federal Reserve suppresses interest and controls interest rates.
• Congress overspends.
• Treasury prints.
• Politicians buy votes using debt.

Result: the dollar becomes a tool for stealing wealth. This is exactly what secret combinations do.

D. Taxation as Tribute

Protection rackets demand tribute.
Similarly, the U.S. government:

• Forces citizens to disclose every financial detail.
• Seizes assets without trial through civil forfeiture.
• Imposes unjust taxes that no one can understand or refuse to pay.
• Penalizes citizens for its own mistakes and excesses.

This is extortion, not governance.

Implications: The Book of Mormon is Not Metaphor — It Is Describing Contemporary Reality

The Book of Mormon was written for our day, and nowhere is that clearer than in its description of secret combinations. Everything Moroni warned about is happening:

• Hidden corruption
• Government capture by elites
• Institutional decay
• Economic plunder
• Loss of freedom
• Approaching destruction

America today resembles the Nephite nation in its final decades — morally bankrupt, politically corrupt, economically plundered, and spiritually blind.

Conclusion

The evidence is overwhelming: The United States federal government now functions in every meaningful way as the most open and brazen manifestation of the Book of Mormon’s warnings about secret combinations.

It operates:

• In secrecy
• Through bribery
• Through insider networks
• For power and gain
• To plunder through inflation and debt
• While destroying the freedoms it claims to protect

Moroni warned that if any nation upholds these combinations, “the sword of justice hangeth over it” (Ether 8:23). America is now living in the shadow of that prophecy.

The only path forward is the same one preached by ancient prophets:

• Reject corruption.
• Build righteous communities.
• Strengthen families.
• Live truthfully.
• Avoid complicity with the system of plunder.
• Live in harmony with eternal law.

The Book of Mormon is not merely a record of past civilizations. It is a mirror. And America must decide whether it will heed the warning reflected within it.

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