I think a lot of people back then - like me as a teenager in the 80s - thought Reagan to be pure evil. Today the view on Reagan is more differentiated, his later view on nuclear war, the reunification, what he wanted to achieve vs. the cold war hardliner and Thatcherism capitalist, Bitburg, Pershing II, SDI.
Once you look past all the Reagan PR the image is even worse than it ever was. The very nature of our the challenges we are facing today as a society can largely be traced back to his throwing open the doors to unrestrained abuse across society. The problem with excess is that it is exponentially unsustainable.
What kind of excess are you referring to? I'm viewing this in a somewhat simplistic way right now, but if I have an excess (in savings) of 10$ this week instead of 1$, then I don't quite see how my excess would be 10²$/1²$ = 100 times more unsustainable. I might be taking that too literally though.
From priceless quotes like "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut..., there was always the impression/worry that the Reagan administration was a bit trigger-happy and Western Europe (particularly West Germany) was about to be turned into an atomic wasteland at any time.
Of course the actions by the administration were more constructive than the rhetoric but I certainly grew up in fear of imminent nuclear war.