As I said initially, if the government had to directly tax them for all this then they’d actually care about the cost.

... would they? The fucking government under the GOP reduces taxes and increases spending. Functionally, what is the difference between that and increasing spending without increasing taxes? What would be different, in this scenario, speaking from the perspective of the electorate, under a non-fiat currency?

If you think that government policy is only being pursued because it IS sustainable under a fiat system, and that if it wasn't sustainable, it wouldn't be pursued, I have a whole case file of fascinating-yet-horrifying actions of governments and orgs throughout history.

... and also feel the need to point out that it's not sustainable under this system either.

If their living standards fall thats more of a mystery to them, they blame corporations or whatever their political leaning dictates.

Then what is the relevance of the entire subsistence basket point?

I dont think we did have as large of military waste historically, in fact I think even entering WWII was resisted.

We had dozens of interventions in Latin America and Asia during the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s. The only differences are that life was cheaper then, both politically and financially, and extraction of 'reparations' from occupied countries was more acceptable.