The character expresses disbelief that the citizens of the Culture truly desire war, despite their votes suggesting otherwise. He views them as living in a communist paradise, enjoying comfort and luxury, supported by the Contact section's moral actions that allow them to feel good about themselves. This leads him to question their desire for conflict when they seem to have everything they could want.

He posits that the war is actually driven by the Minds, the advanced artificial intelligences that oversee the Culture, which are invested in creating an efficient and just galaxy. The character warns that the Minds may eventually consider humans themselves as inefficient, which raises concerns about how their benevolent oversight could turn against the very beings they were designed to serve.