So I have been at level 0 for almost a year now and I still have not went up in the ranking.
If you haven't leveled up in Honor over the course of a year, then odds are high you're still getting valid reports made against you - just not any that would result in a punishment. It takes neutral or good behavior to level up in Honor, not just not taking punishments.
One time it told me i regained my honor back but after I checked later i was back at 0 without even a notification or any context on how to earn it back.
I believe that the message you got was telling you that your Honor was unlocked, not regained. When you get punished, your Honor Level is reduced and you're temporarily locked out of Honor progress. Once your Honor is "unlocked", you're capable of regaining your Honor standing through sportsmanlike conduct.
Do I just have to buy keys now at this point? Is that what riot has to make me do.
Buying keys is an option, but you're not forced to do so. The loss of ambient Key Fragment rewards is meant to encourage sportsmanlike behavior, while simultaneously not rewarding unsportsmanlike players.
Like if there is no goal in sight whats even the point of trying to be honorable?
From the looks of it, the ambient Key Fragment rewards looks to be a goal for you to strive towards. But, of course, if you see no reason to be honorable, then you should at least see reason not to be _dis_honorable - by which I mean, being dishonorable could ultimately cost you your account.
People are shitty and Riot trying to change people with this system is just tedious and immature.
Riot isn't trying to change people with the system, they're trying to reward good sportsmanship and encourage it. How such a thing could be immature is beyond me, but, beyond that, it isn't tedious - or, rather, it is tedious (in the sense that honor progression is long and slow), but it isn't something you're meant to do actively.
What you should be doing actively is reforming, proving that you're honorable and sportsmanlike. I imagine that is where the real tedium lies.