I have a coworker who is a traditional liberal now pretty conservative who is starting to really question things. He's talking a lot about how people seem to be getting stupid and Universities don't teach smart things anymore. He read a book called Coddling the American Mind. I looked into the book and it seems to scratch the surface.
In my opinion the problem at the end of the day is equality. Cultural Marxism aka Critical Theory pushes equality and these concepts have been brought into our education along with feminism which has created an education system no longer about promoting superiority in knowledge and expertise but in promoted equality which of course lowers the quality of everything. Are there any good books that highlight the promotion of equality as the problem with "dumbing down Americans" and how this view of equality has been pushed by the rulers of society for the last century leading to the situation we're in now. Could also tie into how wealth and abundance leads to these scenarios etc... any good books on the subject you'd recommend?
Forget cultural marxism, introduce your coworker to Thomas Sowell and give him a copy of Basic Economics. Until he gets a solid foundation on how economics works, he'll continue to think the "gender wage gap" is real and the government is some kind of benevolent god that only wants the Rich™ to pay their Fair Share™.
Once that book's finished, then you might address the cultural marxism with The Vision of the Anointed.
My SO just got me a hardcover copy. Seen it recommended over and over. Looking forward to starting it this weekend.