Counterpoint: I was the exact right age for the 90s, and it ruled for me personally. Therefore, everything was good and right for everyone else too, is my understanding of how things work.

For real though, I think the main thing you're missing is that the 90s were the last optimistic decade for the country as a whole. It seemed like most of the country (note: offer not valid for minorities) believed things were headed in more or less the right direction. The military budget had actually been cut, even. There were problems in the US, but many of them were being worked on. We didn't realize the traps that had been laid; Congress becoming the performative body it is, NAFTA, the beginning of mainstream conspiracism (Clinton bodycount, militias, Black Helicopters, etc.).

Also, it was the last decade for monoculture in pop entertainment. While there are bad things to say about what was actually IN the monoculture, it gave a common frame of reference for large chunks of the population that are unavailable to us now. I suspect that's actually one of the main causes of our country being on the path we're on - everyone has a different frame of reference culturally, costing us cohesiveness and an ability to talk to almost anyone.