yup, we don't fight for power or self aggrandizement, when the Muslim leadership released the syrians and the persians from the romans they blessed us and prayed that Allah returned us safely.
because the romans and persians really taxed the hell out of the peoples they governed regardless of righteousness or poverty, rather the only ones who got special favours were the filthy rich.
with Islamic rule, if the people accepted Islam, there was no tax to be paid and others paid a manageable amount.
proving that it was for the sake of God and prevalence of moral values, not for themselves.
in this day and age however, the problem is that Islamic leadership doesn't have an assertive role therefore the people have to educate themselves and go straight to the sources if they can't find Aalims that will speak the truth without regard for the blame of blamers - and there aren't many 'Aalims who will openly speak the truth about such things.
and sometimes it is not good to overburden them and make them targets of demonization.
i remember even brother anwar was once asked if it is ok to skew the books in order to avoid taxes,
he smiled and said, if i told you that it would be illegal
but it is true that in Islam the only thing payable is zakah.
the burden falls on the people to learn though, since it is not wise to go out there and unsuspectingly get recruited by cia proxy "muj",
so when they order you to go out and commit murders and bizarre atrocities that are against Islam just so they can put it in the newspapers the next day and justify their immoral wars, you can immediately know the truth and decline.
the pyramid in this case is bottom upwards since there is no khilafah, the people are the structure and must be wise - in my humble opinion anyway.