And my core point is that most companies are shit shows. Employees know what bullet points they should have to minimize downside risk, but struggle with how to get those done while also minimizing upside risk.
In a world of scarcity, just keep communicating the tech debt. Maybe occasionally propose a project to address it.
The secret is to tie the tech debt to something that business wants. If that can’t be done then you have wonder how important it really is to address the debt.
Some people actually want to spend their time contributing to something meaningful. It also sounds like OP is worried executive incompetence might affect his job security.