Wealth inequality is beyond gilded age levels and all signs point to this only accelerating, the only significant economic growth over the past year is in technology meant to mass-replace labor, the government (in the US anyway) is openly corrupt and disdainful of its own citizens and is bankrupting the country while simultaneously stripping safety nets that could help soften the blow of previously mentioned issues, we've decided to pretend the climate crisis doesn't exist despite the clear evidence all around us that things are accelerating even faster than previous predictions.

Not a lot to be optimistic about.

Right. Whether it's absolutely true in an empirical sense almost doesn't matter. If enough people believe it's true--and I'd argue Gen Z absolutely does--it will become the reality. Whether it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or truth out of our control, it's the reality.