I think it stems from
people's dislike of certain parts of society. Everyone has complaints and dislikes about certain parts of the society in which they live. Heaven knows we hear enough complaining about this fad or that trend here in the HZ.
IMO, the apocalypse represents the washing away of the current statis quo. A cleaning of the slate from which a new order can arise. Kinda like Tina Turner's character in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. She was a nobody before the fall, but became a somebody afterwards.
There is no more "New World" for us to run away to and start a new life. The Apocalypse gives us that.