I remember it very well, and for people on the dissident fringe the 90s weren't this utopia. There was a sense of dread and fear since you had janet reno gloating about the slaughters at Ruby Ridge and Waco, which was followed up by a disarmament campaign right after in the form of the AWB. Successful gun grabs in Anglo countries were cited as successful by our own dems, and it sincerely seemed like they'd be willing to ban them all and armored-assault the guys who stuck out in opposition. Add in the recent LA race riots and it felt like things were popping at the seams already, it was all flipping around.
People were pretty divided after 9/11. The boomer dissidents decried it as more vietnam nonsense that would embarrass us and waste blood for nothing. Some were happy to have the ragheads draw the ire of ZOG, and felt like the sudden conciliation towards RW patriots was good - it got "our" guys experience, jobs, management roles, and it took the magnifying glass off the kind of guys who read turner diaries.
You guys in gen Z probably have rosy memories because nobody likes talking about the imminent failure of society in front of the kids, there was plenty to fear back then because we were extremely atomized, and aside from the occasional weirdo subscribed to a crackpot newsletter, it felt like we were totally isolated and alone. There wasn't much consensus in what right wing even really consisted of, some guys only hated niggers, some hated jews, some lukewarm preppers just wanted to be "left alone"...it was a mess.
For all its faults we're at least building networks, and our precepts are being soaked up by even the dumbest of NPCs. That's a big improvement compared to what a dissident felt in 1996
RT: https://poa.st/objects/71c9bbfd-fdad-42ba-bc8a-aecb74b5111c