When times are tough and in upheaval people will always prefer to look back in simpler and perceived "better" times. Don't get me wrong, as a kid of the 70s and 80s there is a TON I loved (and miss) about it. But part of it is we were younger and had a much narrower view of what was important and paid attention to and so some of the bad things going on escaped us.

Objectively (and again I'm a card carrying '70s and '80s lover...) there is plenty about today that is "better" than back then.

And in the '70s many, many people shook their heads and pined for the '50s. And in the '60s the '40s. And on and on and on. Very natural. And not necessarily wrong.