Debt isn't always bad for filthy rich people or countries, watch Robert Kiyosaki how he use debt to make more money and protect his wealth.
Yea, you are right about debt for rich people, but about Kiyosaki, mahn..., everyone doesn't have the same grace; things don't usually work the same for everyone. Life is not just based on one principle or formula that can be applied and you arrive at the same solution that another person did. In life, one formula doesn't work for everyone.
@OP, look at all the countries who are in debt to other country, some of those debtor country doesn't have a bad economy at all, they are still powerful in other areas not just on one thing. There are still other things that contributes to making a nation powerfulpowerful. What do you have to say about a country where there's insecurity?
This is really interesting and I totally agree with you that not everything is effective or works for other people, a small example is debt, when strong countries create debt, they can make the most of it and make it very useful. This is different from poor countries, when they create debt, they will only add to the burden on their country in the future because they don't have a clear goal about the debt.
back to the topic, it is natural that when you are strong then you have power, in social life it is also the same, when you have a lot of money then you are respected by the people around you, strong countries have high egos, they feel superior to the country anywhere then it is very difficult to lower their ego (just look at China and the US).