Think what the response would have been if, in 1974, you had told a JW that the "old system of things" would still be around 50 years later. Or if you had told a JW/Bible Student in 1924 that it would still be around 100 years later.
I can tell you for sure that my mother would not have believed you. I remember feeling that I did not have to worry about what I would do once I graduated high school, since Armageddon would occur before that happened. I graduated high school in 1986.
I don't know a single JW who thought we would see the year 2000 before the end came. I wonder how many saw their faith shaken further with each year that passed after that? I know my mother wasn't one of them. Ask her today, and she will tell you that the end is closer than ever and that world events make it clear that humanity cannot go much longer without god's intervention.
She has been saying this since the 1970s. Same message. Same urgency. She apparently is just as convinced now --50 years later-- as she was then. Some JWs will hang on until they pass away, and they will die with the certainty that they will awaken soon after in paradise on Earth.