Slag, you asked "What is money?" Money is the artificially created idea that stands between modern human beings and sanity, between modern human beings and justice and equality. It is the made-up thing that serves as the motivating factor and the excuse for starkly irrational and destructive behaviour on the part of the aggressive and ruthless who claw their way to the top. It is the thing used to enslave the "little people" who put up with being enslaved in order to get their pitiful allowance of it at the end of each week or month...so they can survive as slaves a little longer. It is the thing for which good taste and rationality are exchanged for vulgarity and criminal waste.

It is a totally artificial concept, and the love of it above all else is what lies at the heart of most of the evil in this world.

Money is just a tool. In itself it's neither good nor evil. It is the way people have chosen to use it and think about it that has caused things to get way out of hand.

You said, "It's always about $$$ in all but a Holy War." Dead right, but in most holy wars it's to a great extent about the money too, in my opinion. Religion is used to motivate the fighters, because it's a very effective way of motivating people.

You said, "the US ceased Imperialism after T. Roosevelt."

Ha! The USA was practicing grand imperialism long before Teddy Roosevelt and has been practicing it ever since. You don't have to have official colonies to practice imperialism. You just have to control governments and economies through a combination of financial power, bought politicians, and military muscle. The USA does that whenever and wherever it can. So does Russia, but Russia has had serious setbacks since the late 80's, due the the failure of their economy to match American military and social spending. So does Israel, but in a much smaller geographical area than the USA or Russia. So does China, to some extent, in Tibet for example. So does Great Britian, but they now ride on the coattails of America.

The Anglo nations, meaning Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and the USA...(in connection with Israel, as regards the Middle Eastern region)...are basically in a sort of unofficial alliance to dominate the world and control its energy resources right now, and they are setting themselves slowly but surely in opposition to the rest of the world community by so doing. This does not auger well for "peace in our time". Like the Germanic peoples, the Anglos will find out that the world does not take willingly to such grand imperial designs, and will resist them effectively in time.

I regret that I am a citizen in one of those countries, because I may yet live to find my own nation on the wrong side in a great world war, and I would be very sad to see such an eventuality....just as sad as I would have been to be a German in 1939-45.