As American hegemony spun the globe so did the "own your acres".
Here in Europe we have been taking mortgages to buy property long before the USA was born, in fact since the Renaissance.
It certainly is a long-term contract, but nobody really considers it a "yolk." After a number of years your debt is paid and you can keep living in your place without paying anything else.
The alternative is to keep paying rent forever, well into retirement. Which one do you think is smarter?
You know when I mention this to my co-workers they grimace. We call mortgages and a family the 15-30 year jail sentence.