Hello, software dev. from the US, but I'm originally from E. Europe and went through Soviet Union collapse, societal disintegration,rampant crime, poverty and seen lot of very high caliber people (PhD scientists/engineers) who unfortunately were thrown into fringe of the society or life completely side-stepped them. What you can do ?
You are 19. Get physically strong (exercise), have a skill(s) to do manual job (like welding) so in case things go bad, you can fall back on it. In the meantime, work on your programming, math skills & imagination.
Good luck !