Indeed. Fans have short memories. Even in my early years as a United fan, they were the ones breaking transfer records. Cole was the best example, but Shearer would have been a United player had they had their way. That was before RVN, Ferdinand and Veron - who was a luxury player, at best given the midfield we had then. Nobody else in the PL, and few teams in Europe could do that.
Clearly the driving force for success was Sir Alex, but being able to outspend your rivals is always going to help. United won the CL with four forwards who would start for every other PL club at that time.
I've seen fans on here justify it by arguing that the club generated it's own money, rather than relying on rich owners. If that makes you feel better, fair enough but I personally don't see the difference. Pre-Abramovich, it wasn't a level playing field so lets not pretend it was. Without the rich owners coming in United would have probably dominated the last fifteen years plus and the PL would be like Germany, or worse.
Personally, with a neutral's hat on, I think the PL is a better product than it was. United (or, more accurately the owners of the club) recognised early that football was going to a be a big business and monetised the brand. Rich owners of other PL clubs, keen to get a piece of the action were inevitable. This is what the game is now, and United benefit from it as much as any other club. They weren't a working mans club even before the Glazers came in, hence why we've got fans all around the globe.