> people stop thinking about the topic from a problem solving perspective
Individual rando citizens shouldn't be the ones "thinking about" infrastructural problems. That's what government and experts are for.
> Just assume everyone has a credit card
Not everyone who has a poor credit score/rating is stupid/irresponsible/to-blame, but I'm sure the majority are. But the majority will probably also claim to be blameless.
The problem is there are two problems - the major one is the irresponsible. The minor one is the unfortunate. But protecting yourself from the irresponsible usually distancing yourself from the unfortunate as well. That said, most of the unfortunate you are likely to meet are at least a little irresponsible too, confounding the issue.
Most people are irresponsible in some way, but the consequences scale exponentially with misfortune in countries without a functional social safety net. The vast underclass this creates is what leads to the revolutions feared upthread.
Someone who spends $10 on a lottery ticket because he doesn't understand what $10 can become or believe he can do better is no more irresponsible than the rich person who tips the $500 change in his pocket because he doesn't understand money anymore, but the latter is not likely to face any consequences for long enough that it probably won't matter.
It's arguable that those who live with high risk (no safety net) need to therefore be less irresponsible.
I'd argue revolution in these environment happen less due to the irresponsible poor, but rather the irresponsible bureaucrats whose corruption allows them this behaviour.
> Someone who spends $10 on a lottery ticket..
I don't think measures of "irresponsible" are independent of consequences. If the consequences are low, is it no longer (personally) irresponsible since that take into account the results. On the contrary, the most irresponsible acts are those that are small or easy, but of great consequences - such as agreeing to a high-interest loan.
AFAIC someone wasting money they can afford to waste is not irresponsible, they are just wasteful.
Individual rando citizens shouldn't be the ones "thinking about" infrastructural problems. That's what government and experts are for.
> Just assume everyone has a credit card
Not everyone who has a poor credit score/rating is stupid/irresponsible/to-blame, but I'm sure the majority are. But the majority will probably also claim to be blameless.
The problem is there are two problems - the major one is the irresponsible. The minor one is the unfortunate. But protecting yourself from the irresponsible usually distancing yourself from the unfortunate as well. That said, most of the unfortunate you are likely to meet are at least a little irresponsible too, confounding the issue.