I think we're largely agreeing, but a fundamental difference is that actual debt you have to pay back, and with technical debt you don't. So inherently you need

I think we're largely agreeing, but a fundamental difference is that actual debt you have to pay back, and with technical debt you don't. So inherently you need to start discussing the trade-offs associated with the debt, and not the actual "debt" itself. Technical debt is not some external thing that we are forced to deal with.