Sealed book of Mormon Ch.27

NOW, this power of Satan was over the entire
earth during the reign of the kings and the
civilizations that existed in and around the fertile
river valleys of the earth. And because of his
power, no one kingdom or empire could survive
for long periods of time. Nevertheless, there
were some that survived longer than others
depending on the inner conflicts that arose
within each empire.
For when the leaders could no longer
subdue the majority of the people of another nation, which were the poor and the laboring
class, then they would turn their armies against
their own people. And this would cause brother
to rise up against brother and family against
family, thus eroding the uniting principle upon
which these nations were founded.
But in all the nations of the earth, during the
time of the Egyptians until the latter days, the
rich and powerful, which were the few among
many, ruled over and subdued the majority.
And the desires of the rich and powerful
were given unto them by their God, who is
Satan. And the cause of their power did not
come from the strength of their own arm, neither
did it come from the strength of their friends, or
of their families. For the friends and the families
of the rich and powerful, even the leaders of all
the nations, are weak like unto themselves.
Behold, their strength and their power
cometh from their armies and their navies, even
the means of force that Satan hath built up to
protect and provide his servants with the
blessings that he hath promised them.
And if money had not been introduced
among the children of men, or if a value had not
been placed upon the things of the earth that
have no intrinsic value as to the sustaining of our
daily lives, then these rich and powerful would
have nothing with which to pay their soldiers
and their generals and their captains.