Why Poles Romanticise the 1990s Despite Poverty and Grey Streets

Growing numbers of Poles are nostalgically drawn to the 1990s — the era of comics, VHS tapes and pirated games — despite the poverty, grey streets and unemployment of those times. Psychologists attribute the phenomenon to a longing for "analogue authenticity" in a chaotic, digital and unpredictable world. The nostalgia for the "nineties" serves as a psychological anchor against modern anxieties.