there are rules for debt

Debt is an obligation; and obviously, it has costs. First and the biggest one is the default risk. Taken to extreme, it can lead to bankruptcy. This is real; and many a business has succumbed to its savage. It is true for the individuals too. History has told us about people who had to pay hefty price for taking on debt. Yeah, debt is merciless. Then there is loss of financial flexibility. Cash gets squeezed for the borrowers when they need it the most; ouch. There is always a conflict of interest between the owners of business (equity holders) and lenders of business. Again, this comes into play prominently when the business faces downturn. The marginal cost of debt zooms up before the borrower realizes it. 

All this trauma comes with just one advantage; that is, interest payments are tax deductible. If someone is looking to take debt for an asset otherwise not needed, this advantage quickly dissipates. I have seen too many businesses and people doing this as a matter of fact; and I am not even making it up. Just look at history.

I am not sure if this article is pointing to anything dramatic. Individuals have always got lured to the illusions of the kingdom of debt. But then there are certain rules for debt. Borrowers don't follow them at their own peril. 

First is that you should not borrow if you do not need to borrow. Cash is king; and you can be the emperor caressing it, figuratively. 

Second is that you should not borrow to buy a depreciating asset. I can understand the enthusiasm for car loans; but believe me, they will only make the lender richer. A little bit of common sense should tell us, it is much better to work towards making ourselves richer.

As a corollary, you can borrow to buy or produce an appreciating asset, such as business projects and home. While we know intuitively that the value of business and home equity will grow over the years, it is not always true. Put it differently, if the growth in business or home values (earnings rate) is lower than the interest rate on debt, it isn't a viable project. Don't borrow at 15% if you can earn only 10% on that cash. 

In short, if you don't have the capacity to service debt, don't borrow. Lenders can take control and throw you out. There have to be sufficient cash flows to make interest payments and principal repayments in order to qualify for loans. It is the job of both borrower and lender to assess this capacity. Otherwise, borrowers will be lurking, and lenders will be looking at bad assets.

Lack of financial flexibility due to unnecessary debt is actually a deterrent to one's wellbeing. I am not sure why people have to surrender their time to others until (or beyond) they reach retirement years. Time is the greatest wealth to which we cannot assign a value. There are costs to everything. If you want a Mercedes, you have to sell your time (work) towards making cash to pay for it. That is true whether you borrowed or not for it. There are no free lunches anywhere. 

Of course you can choose to forgo that Mercedes, and pick a much cheaper car; or, even choose not to buy a car. Then your working time will fall dramatically. At least that is how I see it. Financial independence is something that I value the most. Freedom to do things that I like are invaluable to me. I feel sorry for people who keep working for someone else all their life because it is self-inflicted. If only they had planned their lifestyle and finances, they could be having fun in life all the time. This is neither intimidating, nor difficult.

I measure success in terms of how much fun a person has in life, not in terms of how much money he or she has accumulated. It is easy to have fun with much lesser money than you can probably think.