Imperialism's Inevitablity

I agree with the Dead White Guy that if it were not for Imperialism, we'd not be in the position relative to most of the world that we find ourselves in today (a favorable one). However, I strongly disagree that "without imperialism, we might have a more equitable distribution of resources around the world." The fact of the matter is, some nations lucked out on their available resources (Germany, France, etc.) some did not (Japan--more so than England--, Iceland etc.). This is exactly what made Imperialism inevitable. There would not be a fair, level playing-field if Imperialism never had its rise to fashion. Clearly this unfortunate situation proved more disastrous for some places than others (see Africa).

What's interesting is how a place like Japan managed to become the second most economically-powerful (in terms of PPA) starting with little-to-no resources WITHOUT much success in the imperialist day-and-age (only had one serious colony, Korea, which still wasn't all that productive for them). Therefore, I also disagree that Imperialism is entirely what allows us to live our lavish lifestyles, but rather that it helped some countries along in their race to lavishness.