The early '90s felt really hopeful to me growing up in the US. Berlin wall fell and Germany re-united, the USSR broke apart, technology was advancing, the promise of the internet, etc. I also wasn’t out on my own in the early part of the '90s, though, so there is certainly some things I wasn’t experiencing nor aware of. It’s not to say things were perfect at all. I don’t know that I ever felt that hope for the future again.

All that to say, this meme has basically always been around is generally accurate.