I feel like life is nice, and I'm optimistic about the future

I've been browsing this site since 2014, and I've seen an uptick of depressing mentalities since the height of COVID that I didn't see before hand. I think a lot of it has todo with Gen Z being a driving force in the entry-level economy. I remember when I graduated college in 2016, "Gen Z" wasn't really even an agreed upon term. I really appreciate the social change brought by Gen Z to the finance industry. I remember when I was a kid, the most controversial thing people saw was an LGBT kiss in a Katy Perry music video. And I was the same age then as a lot of Gen Z is now and they are far more involved due to social media and the increased pace of information dissemination that exists now.

That being said, regardless of the very valid anti-establishment opinion's I've seen, I can't help but feel that things aren't as bad as people are making them out to be. I'm a senior associate on a stub VP promotion rn, and I am a bit frustrated with expenses, but that's because I spend my salary living in one of the nicest one bdrm's in all of Manhattan on market price. I'm enjoy myself on the weekends, and I've been seeing a girl I like for a while. I don't mean this as a flex post or anything, but I'm genuinely asking, do so many prospects and interns really feel so jaded by the world and how things are going? Do they really not have any joy?