To me, everything changed with the internet, and especially with smart phones + social media.
I was an adult for a period before all of this, and definitely still feel those were much “simpler times” vs. when all these things came about.
Information spreading literally at the speed of light has changed everything. And not all for the worse, but it’s definitely been a double-edged sword.
“Oh pity us, we got it so bad and they didn’t!!!”
It’s being removed enough to forget the painful parts, but being aware enough at the time of the good parts.
The painful parts decay faster than the good part memories, but schooling pain lasts forever! So the crossover seems to be in people’s early 20s
Being objective about your personal history is really hard - but it drives a lot of decisions today, so it’s good to at least revisit those “good times” to put them into the relevant context (too few people do this!)
For older people, the 50s and 60s were that. For others slightly older than you, the 80s were that.
For people younger than you, the 2000s were great!