A mortgage as a tool is available to you. If you refuse to go into debt, is that societal failure? Affordability of housing is a serious issue, but I'm not sure

A mortgage as a tool is available to you. If you refuse to go into debt, is that societal failure? Affordability of housing is a serious issue, but I'm not sure expecting to buy property without debt is necessarily so. It seems like a self-defeating position to take?