The Vietnam war did not end because the ruling clsss was over it. It ended because of the pressure from the American people. You are right that the ruling class typically does not care what the people want, but there is a limit to how far you can rule when public consent swings wildly against you.
There is a difference between a war with direct involvement of US troops and a proxy war. You can keep the latter going for much longer without needing public support. And even when you are involved directly, if it’s not to a significant degree and if the majority of the population is insulated from the direct consequences of the conflict you can keep them going for decades like in the case of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Of course in this case people are not insulated from the consequences because those are economic now. But people are also suffering from say lack of healthcare in the US, and Medicare for All is simply not happening. The same goes for things like gun control, etc. There are plenty of issues that have clear negative impacts on the population and people want fixed, but none of that matters and the public opinion continues to be ignored.
I frankly don’t see at the moment an impetus for the US government to stop its support for Ukraine, all it needs to do is keep sending them money and weapons, and the money part is easy they can just print it at will, and the weapons being in demand just makes profits for the MIC, so it’s a win-win for the ruling class. The whole thing is too profitable a grift to give up. Only if things get bad enough at home will they be forced to stop.
The Vietnam war did not end because the ruling clsss was over it. It ended because of the pressure from the American people. You are right that the ruling class typically does not care what the people want, but there is a limit to how far you can rule when public consent swings wildly against you.
There is a difference between a war with direct involvement of US troops and a proxy war. You can keep the latter going for much longer without needing public support. And even when you are involved directly, if it’s not to a significant degree and if the majority of the population is insulated from the direct consequences of the conflict you can keep them going for decades like in the case of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Of course in this case people are not insulated from the consequences because those are economic now. But people are also suffering from say lack of healthcare in the US, and Medicare for All is simply not happening. The same goes for things like gun control, etc. There are plenty of issues that have clear negative impacts on the population and people want fixed, but none of that matters and the public opinion continues to be ignored.
I frankly don’t see at the moment an impetus for the US government to stop its support for Ukraine, all it needs to do is keep sending them money and weapons, and the money part is easy they can just print it at will, and the weapons being in demand just makes profits for the MIC, so it’s a win-win for the ruling class. The whole thing is too profitable a grift to give up. Only if things get bad enough at home will they be forced to stop.