Every empire in its official discourse has said it is not like the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest 'mission civilisatrice.' Edward W. Said
"The commerce and industry of the country, however it must be acknowledged, though they may be somewhat augmented cannot be altogether so secure when they are thus as it were suspended upon the Daedalian wings of paper money, as when they travel about upon the solid ground of gold and silver."
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
