Here is a great article I've found: https://www.internationalman.com/articles/three-reasons-why-the-us-government-should-default-on-its-debt-today
We are way past the point of no return. We can't really solve the existing economic problems without loosing a limb. At best we could move into a sensible economic policy and make things get better over few decades. But people care too much about the short term.

Even if a country sell a city, if the policies aren't changed, it's only going to be a temporary fix.