Wow, this is sobering. I really feel for the young people who are feeling such despair.
But I also, sadly, understand it - seems that there are so many societal reasons for this "bai lan" attitude, even here in the United States. The permissive "everyone gets a trophy," lack-of-consequences-for-their-actions society; teachers being forced by school policy to endure kids disrupting and destroying classrooms and getting away with it because of their IEP status; employers who have to go through hell to fire incompetent workers because of regulations that protect them; landlords who can't evict tenants who are not paying rent and ruining their property. It seems like the harder you work to get ahead, the more regulations there are to stop you from getting and staying there.
That said, success through hard work is still possible, but so many young people don't see it anymore. They see the worst of it, in schools, and in jobs, and especially in social media - that the students who misbehave get protected, and the ones who work hard and strive are taking a back seat as teachers deal with the misbehaving ones; that a college degree no longer guarantees a job that will pay the bills (including their college loans for attending a "prestigious" college that they probably shouldn't have taken out in the first place but they were told is the only way to get ahead, even though a local college might have been just as good and saved them a lot of money); that homes cost so much that the jobs they can get after they graduate won't pay enough to buy or even rent.
I think social media has really upped the expectations of young people, too. They expect the big house, perfect job, high salary, etc., right out of school, whereas I think in past generations it was understood that you'd be "poor" for a while as you built your future, and that understanding made it ok and even fun. How depressing to feel - genuine feelings - that if you aren't a success immediately at the beginning of your life, you are a failure.
I have a lot of faith in the youth of the world, but I sure wish society would help with the expectations and enactments of real consequences early on to help them develop more resilience before they become independent and are expected to make their own way.