It’s time for the whining to stop. This nation’s new record-high levels of household debt and credit card debt are not evidence of Americans being victims. They are evidence of Americans being undisciplined, perhaps spoiled.

The dreadful numbers were released Feb. 11. Total household debt now stands at a massive $14.15 trillion, which is $1.5 trillion above the prior record from 2008 as the financial crisis was hitting. Credit card debt, at $930 billion, is likewise at an all-time high. Worse, in the fourth quarter of 2019, the proportion of credit card debt late by at least 90 days rose to 5.32%, an eight-year peak. For people aged 18-29, that rate of serious delinquency stood at a 10-year high of 9.36%. Of those with credit card debt in this age cohort, a whopping 67% of them report feeling serious stress about it.