At the time it seemed like a solid bet. It was in no way apparent that there was any way to shoehorn even more bullshit into the status quo. We grew up with Ronald Reagan as president and grown-ass adults convinced Dungeons and Dragons was the pinnacle of devil worship (meanwhile satanists were dismayed to find out it was just math and improv). Important people thought Lee Iacocca was a good pick to run a car company. Reasonable people concluded that this had to be the nadir of society and culture.