FWIW, I think that CSS is no great language, and yes, writing LESS feels very much like writing macros rather than using a language, but the requirements of the designs I have to implement are generally complex enough that a preprocessor and CSS framework greatly simplify my work, leaving me more time to focus on intent (which I think is a reasonable goal) rather than details of implementation.

If it works well for you to refuse to learn a preprocessor, then that is a good thing, but the fact that one makes my life easier doesn't necessarily imply that the designs I am implementing are overly complex, as your statement seems to imply (though perhaps I am misreading so...)