You voted for me. There may be a million people who are a million times nuttier than Hitler with the chief difference being that they do not have the material capacity to wage war. De Jouvenal notes that the medieval kings did not have the ability to wage extensive and long wars. In fact, I imagine that both dudes would rather have gone falconing or fox hunting instead of trying to hack one another to bits. De Jouvenal goes on to point out that total war is the result of the state power's of taxation and conscription.
Total war is the the consequence of democracy.
People don't object to taxes or conscription because it is thought that in a democracy, these odious practices are ones we inflict on ourselves and cannot be wrong. The war against Vietnam is a good example. Only a few people had to be convinced of the justness of the war. They had the materiel and conscripts available for disposal. They used the property for their own purposes, disregarding the purposes desired by the owners of the property.