My humble opinion is that we are already deep within the danger zone. America - Dead Nation Walking.
I believe you are right but the good thing is that not all is lost yet and that we have experienced similar cycles in the past. These things do not generally go in simply one direction. Pain and consequence tend to eventually correct things no matter how naïve and confused a generation is but of course civilizations do fall. People think they can build their Babylons with towers to rival the ramparts of heaven but they always fail. You can not cut yourself from the realities and responsibilities of what makes stable human civilization possible without finding yourself in freefall grasping at fictions on the way to the very real ground.