What I'm disagree with, is the idea that there must be some overarching Google Unimind for this to have been a conscious strategy, and thus that angle is implausible-to-laughable.

I assert it's rather more plausible that such plans were under-way and closing Reader was a step to clear the way for a Google+ solution. Because nothing near a unimind would have been required to coordinate it and because the entire migration is more inevitable than not.

Is it possible the Google+ team is sincere in wanting to help people and capture feedback? Sure.

But that's rather orthogonal to the question of whether this statement and the timing of all this is primarily motivated by PR strategy.