We've fallen a long way.

We've literally papered over our societal deterioration with debt. New debt is new money to spend today, which means you can blow fresh dough to avoid the consequences of past bad decisions.

Of course, disconnecting bad consequences with the bad decision that created them removes the incentive to make the right decision. You can just keep on making more and more bad decisions, until eventually the debt levee breaks and then you just hope that there is enough of a society left when you come out the other side to try to rebuild your values.