I surely share your pessimism.
Looking down the barrel of my seventh decade, I have never felt more like a dinosaur than now. I don't know America anymore because that America doesn't exist anymore. And here's my thought:
My generation is responsible for this current mess. I lived through the best years America ever had, from the end of WWII through the '80s -- a period when America built the greatest industrial nation on earth and we were riding a rocket ship of success and growth. Workers had good jobs that allowed us to have homes, cars, toys, send the kids to school; the companies were making money, and the investors were making money. It was the most successful period of human endeavor ever recorded. Somehow, during that period, we got so caught up in our own greed and selfishness, probably wanting "the best for our kids", and lost sight of where we were heading.
My generation lost control of the schools; allowed "alternate lifestyles" to permeate our culture; allowed the erosion of family values, morals, ethics, etc.; and got so caught up in our own magnificence that we believed nothing could ever "conquer" us. And now I/we sit here, stunned, and wonder where did it all go? I'm afraid it slipped through our fingers and is gone ...