LH:

You personify this "imperial cause" as if it were somebody's purpose. It is not. It is a complex of symptoms, deriving from a large number of transactions most of which are decided by individuals looking for their own well-being, the well-being of their families, and the future of the organization through which they feel they are getting these things. Having a large number of such transactions, among a large number of groups comprising a much larger number of individuals, does not add up to some wicked imperialistic motive on anyone's part, sorry.

As an intention, it is just smoke. That is not to say that the apparent large-scale trends of the transactions aren't very similar, but making up bogeymen is not particularly productive.


A