Sometimes, "or" complicates things

I'm writing a post right now on my "test" blog, that when it is ready will move to my "Arthurian economics" blog. I'm interrupting that to do this.

Here's what I'm writing:

Rickards' conclusion is that there is no way out of the problem. As he puts it, "there is no exit."

Here's how it was before I fixed it:

Rickards' conclusion is that there is no way out of the problem. Or, as he puts it, "there is no exit."

With the "or" in there, the reader is forced to make a comparison. This slows things down and tears my own argument apart.

When I take the "or" out, the second sentence builds upon the first one, and strengthens the idea I want to convey.

Or so it seems to me.