Ohhhh Wikipedia again:

"The capacitor plague[1] (also known as bad capacitors [2]) was a problem with a large number of premature failures of aluminium electrolytic capacitors with non solid or liquid electrolyte of certain brands especially from Taiwan manufacturers.[3] The first flawed capacitors were seen in 1999...."

It is the lack of screening and quality control. Premature death only happens in the first hours of use and a normal quality control will reject these cases. If you turn on some device and it work for some hours, it will continue to work for years if it was properly designed.

I don't know what crappy products you are using or if you buy a bottle of whiskey and it has inside water instead of whiskey. Capacitors and resistors that have normal quality, you don't need NASA quality, and with proper specifications for your application continue to work for decades. You even can take a radio of the 20's and unless it was smashed it will work today.

The only thing that can damage properly designed electronic devices is overvoltage, heat and mechanical shock, but if apply 20V to a 12V electrolythic capacitor you can be sure that it will explode making noise and a lot of smoke.

Stupidity also evolves!