To me, the most glaring example of this is the massive expansion in debt across the entire world in the last few decades.

On a political level, debt allows politicians to buy off their constituents without having to make hard choices related to the budget.

On a personal level, debt allows us to buy that house, car, boat, etc. that we've had our eye on without putting in the work and saving that should be necessary.

In both cases, the debt eventually catches up with us and we end up spending the vast majority of what we have on interest instead of things that you want in the future.

I think the same principle applies in life: if you sacrifice future gain for present stimulation, you'll end up paying for it in the future.