I'd say our Glory Days were back in the Age of Reason. Since then we seem to have only gone downhill in general. As we've progressed technologically, we've regressed intellectually, on average. I think this can be largely blamed on two things: 1. the strive towards political correctness, and 2. the fact that our technology now does most of the thinking for us. Why learn math when a computer can work the whole equation for you in the time it takes for you to read the problem? Why learn proper English when chatspeak is becoming the dominant form of communication?