>>9807035The 90s were the last time people in the United States had a genuine sense of optimism. The only major rival to American hegemony had collapsed in on itself and taken the specter of nuclear war off the horizon for the first time in almost 60 years. Iraq, who had commanded the fourth most powerful army in the world, was defeated in a completely one sided stomp that had the entire civilized world behind it. Globally the economy was on an upswing. New and exciting technology that gave people unprecedented access to information was not only improving every month but becoming more readily available. Music, film and television all had a mix of new and massively successful content with some of the best material from previous generations still in the mix. China, Japan and Korea all existed in a peaceful rivalry and ready to integrate into the global economy. Former Soviet satellite countries were finding their own footing in the world and the BRD / DDR peacefully reuniting after the world watched the Berlin Wall collapse was legitimately seen as a sign that the world was mending.
There were some negatives - Yugoslavia and it's civil wars were the nastiest fighting seen in Europe since the 40s. There were famines in Africa. Eastern Europe had it's share of woes.
But overall the 90s were the time when people, in general, believed we were on the path to a brighter future. The possibility of mankind uniting and pushing into a "Jetsons Future" to become a spacefaring civilization seemed very real.
