It might also be a way of keeping the show going without ever addressing those fundamental flaws, until the well runs dry, that is.
I tend to think that these methods allow us to double down on failing ideas, just because they can be compensated for with other means (which themselves bring about their own problems, that then have to be addressed with more bubblegum-fixes, creating more structure on top of structure), atleast for the time being. These failing ideas are then allowed to become part of our core "principles" even if they cannot actually be measured to have brought any value to anyone's life, if anything, the opposite having been observed.
The better approach would be to critically evaluate some of the ideas that have brought about the current, seemingly unsustainable society model, and abandon them, if deemed to be worthless, rather than cling onto them for sentimental value. This would lead to us eventually ridding ourselves of all the excess "fixes" and bloated bureaucracy that is required to support the current society model, which has quickly grown into something self-perpetuating and ever-escalating. And hopefully, by some point in time, create something that is actually sustainable with the resources allocated to that particular region of the world, without needing to constantly borrow, or rather, steal, from elsewhere.