There's a cataclysm coming to mankind and it is provably anthropogenic.
Released into the wild ten short years ago, Bitcoin will obliterate today's failing governing systems of liberal democracy, central banking and nation-statism. There being no way of 'stopping' Bitcoin, pure capitalism and individual sovereignty will soon enough reign over the Earth.
However, financial, and therefore manufacturing and logistics systems will break down completely unless the powers that be hand over to the Bitcoin Hodlers unreservedly.
imho cultural pessimism is a historical constant. there always were times when everyone was expecting the world to end. they were always wrong and somewhat sometimes a bit right. let´s take the Fin de Siècle guys around 1900 as an example. that was pure cultural pessimism, they expected the end. they were wrong. but the following WW1 and WW2
were apocalyptic. and it was the liberal democracies that "saved" the western civilization. it was the nationalists and extremists that almost brought it to an end.
It could be true that a failing global financial system could boost bitcoin. if it creates a crisis as serious as the one during the beginning of the 20th century I am not sure if a risky asset like bitcoin will get attention of panic struck financial elite. If no big crisis will happen the chances of bitcoin to become adopted by the masses are equally high or even higher.
edit: following
The world did end many times. First time was in ancient mesopotamia. They were the most advanced people in the world at the time, in the area we now call the middle east and egypt. They communicated, they traded, they had a high culture with laws and writing and a central government and everything else we have today except modern technology. And then they collapsed.
Again with the romans, we all know about them.
A number of other similar cases throughout history
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdfIn the past century it happened with greater frequency, brought about by modern technology. Best known examples being the soviets and chinese. Special mention to cambodia for murdering a full third of its people.
And it is happening again. Brexit, the overreach of the NZ government, sweden losing part of their land to the muslims they themselves invited, france sending in soldiers against protesters, the kerfuffle over the Wall, unsustainable fertility rate and an economy on the brink of collapse, it's all just symptoms. Only this time it's damn near global. We are looking at a potential end of what we currently call civilization.
Forget normal wars. Even world wars, they are constructive. It's when we turn on our own that things get really bad.