The culprit is our educational system, and its failure to provide one simple aspect of the learning environment; "Common Sense". I grew up when schools just taught the 3 "Rs'. By the mid-to-late 70s I noticed a change in the work force coming into the market place. What I noticed was that Common Sense was not common anymore. People did not reason things out. They could spout all sorts of technical information, but that was all it was. They were regurgitating data they had learned, but that learning experience did not provide the leap between the data and reality.
That was the beginning of the tech process of replace, do not troubleshoot to repair. Once our technologists became swappers instead of troubleshooters, it was all downhill from there.
Today, it has gotten so bad that schools no longer teach life. What they teach now is a political agenda. When was the last time you saw a politician that even knew which end of a screwdriver you were supposed to hold?
Nope, common sense isn't common anymore. I personally think it has a lot to do with a total lack of self-responsibility, coupled with laziness. When I achieved my certifications; (CCNA, CCNP, CCVP, and CCSI) it took months of study to be prepared for a single exam, and most certs required more than a handful of exams to achieve any one of the above.
Today, there are exam professionals that will provide all the answers for any given exam. Yes, you can regurgitate the answers to specific questions, but do you actually KNOW the technology from a hands-on standpoint? No. So, anyone willing to pay money for the exams can get the certifications. Do they actually have the knowledge required to act as a subject matter expert in the technology? The answer is usually no.