The monster from the abyss, plus the great whore. The monster from the abyss and the great whore collaborate, says John. The great whore is affluence, the affluence which John saw in affluent Rome. Affluence seduces people away from singleminded devotion to Jesus Christ, says John. It did then and it does now.
Affluence fosters an addiction to greater affluence.
As a nation's energies are given over to making its people affluent two things happen. In the first place, ever-increasing affluence becomes the preoccupation of the people. They will give up anything for greater affluence. They become shallow, shrivelled in spirit, cruel, coarse and insensitive. In the second place, a few of the nation's people become astoundingly rich.