quote · Legacy record
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.
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.
Approximate author period: c. 1968 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Susan Sontag
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1968 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1933 to 2004; Wikidata Q152824, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q152824 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 76990; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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