Is 80s nostalgia justified?

It's most likely because you grew up in the '90s. Most people seem to believe that the fill-in-the-blank of their teen years was better than that of other eras. Personally, I view the '90s as a cultural wasteland, unable to produce anything new, and instead rehashing the '70s and '80s. You mention 2pac, a one-time friend of mine btw, and he's a great example-- his "music" was just records from the '70s and '80s looped behind him while he rapped, an artform created in the '70s.

Something to consider-- the '70s gave us rap and punk, the '80s reformulated disco into EDM. The '90s gave us... people continuing to do rap, punk, and EDM. Has an entirely new genre of music been created since the early '80s? Even today the pop music is rap, rock, and EDM. Blame the immediacy of the internet, the advent of digital technology, tech companies taking over the music industry, or whatever else you want, but it certainly seems that new scenes and sounds ceased to happen circa 1985.

Agreed.

second that

The Smiths, Iron Maiden, Prince, R.E.M. Metallica, Slayer, Talk Talk

We don't have to agree. Instead we'll agree to disagree

The world is ending soon and everyone around us is awful? Umm are you part if a religious cult?

Michael Jackson has sold over 750 million albums. Madonna has sold over 300 million. Madonna was NOT bigger than Michael Jackson.

Never liked the metal bands much. Punk, grunge and noise were more my style.

I think the 80s is special if you grew up during that time. Nothing was online, so everything was tangible. I remember being a small boy and going to a jolly giant(think toys r us, but not as popular). At the time there was toys for pretty much everything. This was the start of serious consumerism aimed at kids. Transformers, heman, gobots, star wars, shera, thundercats, lego, turtles, cabbage patch kids, barbie, sindy, centurions, mask, the list goes on and on. And I walked into this store and the shelves were stacked with everything you could want and shelves were so tall you needed ladders to get to the top. They all had cartoons to go with them too. Even lazer tag had a cartoon.

We watched star wars, we somehow watched terminator, commando and predator and thought arnold was the greatest thing since bacon flavoured microchips. We saw the rebirth of star trek, the dawn of mario and sonic. We travelled through the stars in wireframe games like elite. We all had a crush on Alyssa milano and Tiffany. We got an appetite for destruction when guns n roses welcomed us to the jungle. We watched real shuttles going into space and the idea of actually travelling to the stars in our life time wasnt the fantasy it is today. Our cereals still had sugar in them, our chocolate bars were still full sized. We all sat in bed and listen to peter falk tell us the story of the princess bride. We enjoyed countless B movies that werent actually too bad. We went to video rental stores and choose movies to watch with friends a the weekend. And every single one of us had a friend whose dad didnt give a fuck that we were in the room and would happily watch barbarian queen and see the first naked ladies we would ever see.

The 80s was a time of wonder. It sparked imagination and allowed even the weirdest of us to find a place in the light. You had to be there to really know it, and even everything I just said is barely scratching the surface.

Since the beginning of this country the rich elite have been trying to take over. The previous major power grab spawned the labor movement which ended it. In the 1980's changes to laws and policies began which have ushered in the latest cycle. We're going to have to revise such fundamental things as the definition of fiduciary responsibility in corporations and forbid all private money in elections - except perhaps for small donations by individuals. Not to mention banning lobbyists. Otherwise even if we stop them this time around, they'll be back to try again.

The beginning of African slavery 400 years ago was all about corporate greed. Hardly a new phenomenon. Capitalism can be a powerful force for economic prosperity, but only if it's properly regulated. It can be incredibly destructive otherwise. Like a nuclear reactor - a source of beneficial power, but at the same time a threat you have to be shielded from. We've drifted too far in the direction of not regulating. And that trend started in earnest during Ronald Reagan's tenure.