It seems that, in many areas not just aviation, rules are there for those who choose to follow them and are no longer enforced. This can only end in the break-down of civilisation when the vast majority of rule followers finally decide "sod it, I'll just do as I like", whether that is taxing their car, not shoplifting or something much more serious.
The regulatory organisations seem to assume that everyone will do as they are told. They tell us that they have no money to enforce, yet enforcement could bring lots of revenue in the form of fines and penalties (if the money was correctly allocated by government).
Many of us law-abiding citizens are outraged, but nobody cares about us, so the decline in standards will continue until we reach a tipping point and it might be too late then to drag it back.
Aviation has been getting safer and safer due to the strong regulation, but we see it being relaxed and Boeings are no longer built to a proper standard because of self-regulation and cases like this are the tip of the iceberg. Who or how may have to die for the tide to turn?