It was almost like learned helplessness.
This is a huge problem on reddit as a whole, IMO. The whole website is chock-full of doomers, cynics, and pessimists who are quick to say why every piece of good news is bad, actually, why every attempt at change is doomed to fail, why there's no hope for anyone anywhere trying to do anything, and we should all just lie down and wait for the sweet release of death. It's universal, across almost all the big subs, regardless of subject matter.
I'm not sure why reddit ended up that way, but it was both exhausting and depressing. That doomer shit is contagious, spend too much time immersed in it and you catch yourself thinking that way too. And, well, it's just sad to see everyone around you being sad.
One thing I'm loving about Lemmy / KBin so far is that it's not like that. Maybe it's just because they're still small and new, but people seem less nihilistic here. Not polyanna-ish toxic-positivity optimistic either. Just... normal. It's so refreshing. God, I hope this place stays this way!