The 80's were a great time. Everyone seemed to get richer (in more than monetary ways).
But alas, times change. I entered the work environment with boomers, am an X-er myself and I'm married to and work with lots of gen Y's (as well as have multiple gen Y children). As easy as it is to slip into the mentality that everything is going to hell in a handbasket, it actually makes more sense to look at each generation as being presented its own unique set of challenges and trying to solve them in their own way.