It's a catch-22 situation, one where you can't win.  That expression "catch-22" was made famous by a book by the same title, one that came out of the war experiences of Joseph Heller.  Heller was flying over France in World War 2 when shrapnel hit his plane, a B-25 bomber.  Up to that time, he had been pretty well fearless, but no longer.  He wanted out.