Arguably the decline began already in the 2000s, a very up and down era, but far better than the insane woke sharia / bolahevik reign of terror era of the 2010s or the enshittification and impoverishment of the 2020s.
Although I do think the 2020s are the best era in a long time. It feels like history finally came unstuck and things are happening again.
The 1990s does remain like a golden age in the back of every millennial's mind though, an idyllic time when the economy was good and society actually functioned. Having lived through that, all the years since feel inadequate.
