Having made a fast googling after reading the article, I was not surprised that Zappfe was the son of a bourgeoise family and went to law school. Lacking immediate own connection with the daily chores of "making ends meet", you will get into these kind of mind games. As the third generation class traveller, spending my holidays in the community of my working class grandfather, and remebering the relatively poor conditions I grew up in until my father started to "climb", I have also seen the increasing kind of "lack of purpose with life" as time has progressed. And I really see it now in the community I live in, where kids do not see work 9-to-5 as a reasonable alternative. Where you spend a couple of years after (our equivalent of) high school just travelling, studying what you find interesting and partying, a lot of this negative outlook on life here, and those apocalyptic views of the future that Hendy gives.
Being myself born a good bit back in the old millenia, I grew up with people in television programs and radio declaring that we never should see year 2000 because of nuclear wars extinguishing mankind. While that might still happen, making all talks of global warming uninteresting, we´re still around. And even if the world goes warmer, well, who knows what world there will be.
I find this attitude a lot among young people in the semi-posh environment I live in, in young "activists" and I boldy suspect that Cameron Hendy wasnt born in a ninetofiver environment.
While I wholeheartly support all initiatives to reduce the need for burning fossil fuel, I do NOT think the "change your lifestyle" message of young activists is the solution to all evil, rather see that as lines of thoughts parallell to the life pessimism that Zapffe preached.
Having read my fellow countryman Martin Hägglunds This Life, that caters for a life for everyone without real work, I think the opposite might be just what people need - at least 10 years of nine to five work, not where ones heart lies, but rather where your capabilites can be best used for the basic needs of other people and with the urge at 14.00 for the clock to become 17.00 and for friday to be a day of celebration.
That, as I have experienced in my not so short life, is what gets the spirits of life going. And presumably it has for people for a couple of 100.000 years.