On this week’s episode of The Ultimate Assist, John Stockton and Ken Ruettgers sit down with Dr. Andrew Fox, author of Truth in the Age of Applause: How Stupidity Is Ruining the American Dream, for a provocative conversation about truth, morality, education, masculinity, politics and whether America is losing its ability to think for itself.
We have more information at our fingertips than any generation in human history.
So why does it sometimes seem like we’re getting worse at thinking?
Fox argues that the problem isn’t intelligence. It’s what happens when intelligent people surrender their own moral judgment to the crowd.
Drawing on theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings about Germany during the rise of Nazism, Fox explains what he means by “stupidity”: not a lack of intelligence, but the willingness of otherwise rational people to abandon independent judgment and conform to an ideology because everyone around them appears to accept it.
And Fox believes America is increasingly vulnerable to exactly that phenomenon.
The conversation doesn’t shy away from cultural flashpoints.
Fox takes aim at rapidly changing language around sex and gender, progressive politics entering children’s entertainment, identity politics, socialism, ideological conformity in universities and what he sees as America’s disappearing moral foundation. He argues that when truth becomes a popularity contest, it stops being truth and becomes performance.
But the criticism isn’t confined to the political left.
When Ken asks about extremism on the right, Fox argues that conservatives can fall victim to ideological thinking too. He uses immigration as an example, saying that children brought illegally into America through no choice of their own should have a reasonable path toward legal status rather than being treated identically to people who knowingly violated immigration law as adults.
John, Ken and Dr. Fox explore:
- Why Americans may be losing the ability to think independently
- Whether universities teach students how to think or what to think
- Why Fox believes critical thinking and civil dialogue need to return to classrooms
- Gender, language and the changing definition of cultural norms
- Socialism, communism and political extremism
- Why some Americans appear increasingly ashamed of their own country
- The decline of churches as America’s moral conscience
- Immigration and what citizenship should mean
- Why Fox believes both the extreme left and extreme right miss the point
- Masculinity, family and the return of traditional roles
- Why younger Americans increasingly believe the American Dream is dead
- Whether social media rewards conformity over truth
- And what ordinary Americans can actually do about it
The American Dream also comes under the microscope.
Fox challenges younger generations who believe it has become unattainable. His advice isn’t particularly fashionable: work harder, stop expecting everything immediately, spend less than you earn, cancel unnecessary subscriptions and accept that building a life takes time. He argues that previous generations didn’t begin adulthood with the lifestyle social media now presents as normal.
Perhaps the most important part of the conversation, though, is Fox’s argument for bringing back civil disagreement.
Instead of teaching students the correct opinion, he wants schools and universities to force students to make an argument, support it with evidence, defend it against criticism—and remain capable of respecting the person sitting across from them. He believes those skills could begin being taught as early as first grade.
And when John puts him through The Ultimate Assist rapid fire, Fox doesn’t hesitate when asked for the biggest threat to independent thought:
Universities.
This isn’t really a conversation about left versus right.
It’s about something more fundamental:
Can Americans still disagree, think independently and pursue truth even when the crowd doesn’t applaud them?
🎙️ Episode #90: Is Stupidity Destroying the American Dream? — with Dr. Andrew Fox
Available on Rumble, Apple Podcasts & Spotify.
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