I remember reading a really interesting quote in a National Geographic article on Sweden, so it must have been 15 or 20 years ago, as I bet I dropped my subscription due to their blatant in-your-face Leftism around 15 years ago.
In the article, they were talking about Swedish socialism with a Swede, who basically said they were in a better place politically than we were, as they had realized they had taken the wrong path, and had reversed course, while we were still going full speed ahead. Even if at that moment, they were much more socialist than we were.
Looking back, he may have nailed it.
As far as I know the Swedish educational system never deteriorated to the point that ours in the USA has. I see our two greatest real weaknesses lying in the reality behind two of our most vaunted so-called strengths, the “educational” system and “diversity”.