Abuse of the military metaphor may be inevitable in a capitalist society, a society that increasingly restricts the scope and credibility of appeals to ethical principle, in which it is thought foolish not to subject one's actions to the calculus of self-interest and profitability. War-making is one of the few activities that people are not supposed to view 'realistically'; that is, with an eye to expense and practical outcome. In all-out war, expenditure is all-out, unprudent--war being defined as as an emergency in which no sacrifice is excessive. Susan Sontag
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In a capitalist society, it is necessary for people to view the world realistically, "as an emergency in which no sacrifice is excessive." In a capitalist society, people have to think of things as they are and not as they should be. Even if the government announces a war, they will always have a realistic perspective on things. People will never be able to avoid the reality that wars are expensive and they may even have to pay for them with their own money. A person who does not have any money is going to be out of luck when it comes to participating in a war.

Source: Illness As Metaphor & Aids And Its Metaphors

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