IMO, that mindset pretty much died the day the towers fell. There was and has been a little “it’s the 21st century” or “it’s <year>” but they’re generally not marked by as much optimism (or subversion of the same) as it was in the '90s.
In the phrase “it’s the 90s” the connotation was optimistic, things are improving, et cetera. In “it’s the 21st century” or “it’s 202x” the idea is normally about how tech has or should have improved, in my experience. Like, the 90s phrase could be used for just about anything, “it’s the 90s, Jimmy, everyone’s cool with the gays!” Or whatever else. It was optimism and hope and a belief that things were improving. Now it’s just “it’s 2025, why the fuck doesn’t my debit card work?” Or “in the year of our Lord 2021, why does no one believe the scientists?”
IMO, that mindset pretty much died the day the towers fell. There was and has been a little “it’s the 21st century” or “it’s <year>” but they’re generally not marked by as much optimism (or subversion of the same) as it was in the '90s.
In the phrase “it’s the 90s” the connotation was optimistic, things are improving, et cetera. In “it’s the 21st century” or “it’s 202x” the idea is normally about how tech has or should have improved, in my experience. Like, the 90s phrase could be used for just about anything, “it’s the 90s, Jimmy, everyone’s cool with the gays!” Or whatever else. It was optimism and hope and a belief that things were improving. Now it’s just “it’s 2025, why the fuck doesn’t my debit card work?” Or “in the year of our Lord 2021, why does no one believe the scientists?”