Would a complete financial meltdown with no chance of recovery for decades be a good thing for our character?

The pioneers and earlier generations were stout and focused, they communicated honestly and kept busy with essential things, only. Would we really be better off if the debt brought the house of cards down, and we got real, really? Why is civilization so terrified of brute reality, and real living? Isn't the main purpose of life to develope character traits, and easy living insulates us from that?