Were times ever saner in your life?

[Tommy Carcetti]

17. The 90s, or between the Gulf War and September 11th, were nice.

Economy was great, Cold War was over, the music, television and movies were good, and there was a general sense of optimism. People were slowly beginning to open up to be more tolerant. Environmental awareness was on the rise. Computer technology was on the rise but it hadn’t completely taken over things yet.

That the entire country got caught up in things that were essentially tabloid fodder (OJ, Monica Lewinsky) demonstrates how little else we had to be concerned as a whole and we could afford those distractions.

Now, there were places elsewhere in the world where the 90s were not so great…the Balkans and Rwanda immediately stand out.

But from an American perspective I don’t know if we ever had it any better than the 90s.