No, Amos, I do not personify it. I thought I made that clear. It is, exactly as you say: (the result of) "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."

Precisely. And that complex of systems results in imperialism, causes wars, devastates nature, and creates immense suffering and loss for millions of people in places both far and near as the decades roll by. And so it has ever been.

All I say about it is that I am naturally inclined to oppose the present imperial order in the world, no matter who is running it.

So was Tom Paine, and so was George Washington. The great imperial power thay opposed was Great Britain...and at that time I would probably have opposed Great Britain's imperial ambitions too, because it is my nature to oppose the top dog in the ongoing game of empire.