Sin of wasteful ways

While we are all worry about having not enough money for retirement, applicable to the hardlanders only, we are still caught up in this wasteful cycle of spending our hard earned money thoughtlessly. And at times this wasteful spending is even a compulsion. We waste thoughtlessly on scrapping cars in good working condition in less than 10 years. We waste tearing down sound buildings just to increase the value of the next development. We waste by making HDB flats affordable depending on how much is the savings in the CPF. Those who have certain incomes must pay for bigger flats even if they do not want to. And we even waste by insisting that people who are more financially well off must spend more in paying for more expensive wards in hospitals. They cannot opt for cheaper C wards! MEAN testing. At the other end, the income level of these hardlanders are not increasing exponentially but at a snail pace while cost of living is galloping away. How to expect these people to save enough when the system demands that they spend according to affordability? Why is thrift not encourage but a lip service? Why do we sometimes hear the statement that thrift is good and that people should spend within their means but the system is against this? If we truly believe in savings, then we must not spend extravagantly, unnecessarily, and thoughtlessly. We need a change of mindset and encourage people not to spend if there is no need to spend. And our system should be redesigned to help people to save than to spend. Then there will be more money left. Why people have so little savings for old age when we are one of the highest savers in the world? Is it so difficult to figure out why?