@lain @Moon @condret Would the elites care about how much the war costs when they can just defer the costs for another generation? Or perhaps they benefit from wars and the contracts passed over? I think another angle there is the large US war machine and trying to justify that.

I still think there is something in the resources angle. In the past, there would be wars for land and resources. That was the boon that you would receive. I do wonder how it translates in modern times.