"Plunderers of the world, when nothing remains on the lands to which they have laid waste by wanton thievery, they search out across the seas. The wealth of another region excites their greed; and if it is weak, their lust for power. Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun is enough for them.
Among all others only they are compelled to attack the poor as well as the rich. Robbery, rape, and slaughter they falsely call empire; and where they create a desolate wasteland, they call it peace."
Tacitus, Calgacus' Speech from Agricola
Remembering this may help one to understand some of the things that happen that otherwise may seem to make no sense. In the pursuit of profit, their hypocrisy and disregard for justice and human life knows no bounds.
I will let you in on a little secret. Not always, but the worst of them have a 'tell.' You have to look at the long record of a person's action and mode of acting to assess this. Are they plain and straightforward, or highly political and evasive in their motives. Do they often say one thing, and yet do another. If so, then this is their 'tell.'
The most cynical player will accuse and denounce their adversaries of the exact things that they have in mind, their precise motives, but first, and aggressively so with high indignation. But their own actions will appear to be without principled cohesion, that is, principles but selectively applied. Look for the
inconsistencies, and if they are there, you know the type of hypocrite with whom you are dealing.
I think they do this because it defeats the ability of their opponent to accuse them of the very things that they themselves are doing. I have seen this in company politics to geo-political squabbles, over and over. Bald faced misdirection is almost standard fare these days of spin and propaganda in domestic politics.
Telling the truth is considered to be naive, embarrassingly clumsy, an automatic disqualification from power. It is almost as bad as bending your knee to the power of God rather than the will to power, when we would all be gods. Or caring for the poor and the disadvantaged, those disgusting, useless creatures. Contemptible weakness! Such are the times.
There is nothing quite so tempting as a poorly managed country with exploitable resources and assets like food, energy, and people. And if it is well located for other geopolitical purposes, then so much the better.
Winning.
