What Villa are trying to do, and what we failed to do, is spend big in the short term in order to get long-term success (trophies, league position, Europe, and ultimately more revenue and fans).
It's almost impossible to do that without spending big. We've shown what happens if you try it and get it wrong - perilous league position and points deductions. Villa might end up showing what happens if you try it and get it 'right' - good league position and still the danger of points deductions or selling off the best players and returning to mediocrity.
Do the P&S rules force clubs to be sustainable? Well, you might be able to argue that, as you need to either spend within your means or suffer greatly because of it. In the world of sport - what's the point in being stable, if you are never going to even try to compete at the top?
I want to watch sport - where everyone is trying their best to win (a game, season, etc). I don't want to cheer for a business being sustainable.
I appreciate the two are inherently interlinked, but football is becoming more and more of a closed shop. P&S is helping it. It's not a conspiracy, but it severely affects anyone who doesn't already have large income streams. How do you get bigger income without either a) selling all your decent players, and never hoping to be near the top, or b) spend big, win things and become more appealing to global fans and sponsors. The rules, as they are, encourage clubs to do a).
Edit: I don't know what the answer is, but it doesn't feel like P&S is it.