This is the only rational choice offered by the current system, unless the odds of winning lottery ever change

You forget that changing system is an option. There are other countries and too few people consider emigration. Combined with remote work it enables a lot of interesting options for people in tech; I wound up with a tiny house for under $100k. It's not where I plan to be forever, but it means that I've got something so cheap I can afford to move somewhere else for a while (if desired) and keep this as a home base, so to speak.