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If it weren’t for easy credit and the widespread acceptance of debt (once broadly shunned as an immoral and shameful method of acquiring goods), Americans would not be infected so seriously with the disease of consumerism. Debt helps makes the entitlement and material acquisition possible on a scale in the United States that has never before been seen in any country or at any other time in the history of the world. Savvy media moguls know how easily available credit has become, counting on it as a means to further seduce Americans into purchasing more goods and services through emotional
advertising messages. Not only do those who are sick with the disease of consumerism listen to these messages and make purchases they cannot afford, but they further compound the problem by going into debt for them, adding an interest payment on top of the expense. This triples the amount of money they should actually be paying for an item. Is it any wonder that the majority of Americans cannot keep most of the money they make? In the United States, consumer spending has risen twice as fast as income, and
individuals have been withdrawing more money than they put into savings for the first time since the 1930s.5

In addition to consumerism, a prosperous and seemingly strong
economy during the 1990s added to the notion that high levels of personal debt are acceptable. A somewhat artificial euphoria has floated over the United States for years because of a 10-year economic boom, a boom that dampened the stigma of borrowing on credit and contributed to a sense of “entitlement” that many people possessed during that decade. Most Americans didn’t worry about getting into debt, believing that it wouldn’t really hurt them because they could not imagine an economic downturn. But history proves otherwise: Where there is a boom, there will always be a bust that will follow it. James Clayton notes that the euphoria surrounding
Americans has given them a false sense of well-being and he warns
that being in debt without fear of economic risk is a very dangerous place to be:

The message conveyed. . .by Congress is that Americans no longer
need to worry about rising public indebtedness—that a growing
economy and a continually rising stock market will solve the debt
problem that has plagued the nation for several generations. This
euphoric outlook is even more evident regarding the rising privatesector debt. Private-sector debt in the United States in 1999 was about 130 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level on record. Equity prices, which have risen faster in the U.S. than in any other major nation since 1990, are often used to justify this level of private indebtedness and unprecedented optimism. A rapidly rising stock market is thought to have increased the net worth of corporations and households, thus justifying historically high levels of debt. This stock-inflated net worth is also used to justify a zero household savings rate.6

Taken from : Money Mastery “10 Principles That Will Change
Your Financial Life Forever