Are we or are we not going down the drain?

Are we or are we not going down the drain?  In 1950, some people thought that the abandonment of church allegiance had deprived the children of an occasionally effective teacher of decent behavior.  In 1950, other analysts thought that mass production enforced mediocrity on the market for intellectual wares. Some optimists thought that the essence of the Great American Discovery was that if you bring advantages to a great lot of previously underprivileged people, they will rise to their opportunities and become responsible citizens. Other experts said the U.S. demonstrated that our system works best by combining the genuine advantages of governmental responsibility with private initiative avoiding the disadvantages of each AND when  governmental intervention is limited and private industry and private associations have a great degree of  freedom.   How are we doing in 2013? Are we going down the drain yet or going into 2014 have we already hit bottom?