Rating: 
Summary: Uncensored!
Review: "Brainwashed" got my attention! When I was in college a few years ago, writing a neutral line on Reagan earned red marks and rebuttals. So did stating that the Soviets had territorial ambitions. (One Professor named me, derisively, "Mr. U-S-A" and "Mr. Patriot!"). The climate was, to paraphrase Ice-T, "Freedom of speech, just watch what you write." (The 60's Berkeley Free Speech Movement has come a long way, baby! :-) In addition to liberal bias, there is also generational bias. Many Professors learned values in the 60's, when Reagan played the "evil stepdad" as Governor. Students who came of age in another era (say, the 80's -- when Reagan was most popular with 18-24 year olds) learned to keep new values close to the vest. (We were a new, conditioned, "Silent Generation" if you will). Even liberal students, who wanted to please Professors, often "learned" that they'll never live up to the 60's. Or even worse, that they will never show enough appreciation to 60's trailblazers! :-) I now work at UC Davis: The (UC) College of Engineering is fairly objective, and heavy degree requirements allow students no electives. Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities, however, have relatively liberal departments, and allow lots of electives. (PC departments are also given more slack regarding requirements and student exceptions). Courses are often a twist on Murphy's Law: If a course can lean left, it will. This includes the most basic writing courses -- with reading lists determined by author's background, gender, etc... and how well his/her writings reflect "diversity," etc. "Brainwashed" would make a nice graduation gift, for the skeptical student - who will now have some objective distance! Yeah!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: As a student who was lucky enough to receive his degrees in something other than liberal arts, I was able to make it through undergraduate and graduate school without this type of indoctrination driving me crazy. This book really hits the nail on the head when it comes to the few liberal arts classes in which I was unfortunate enough to find myself. I doubt any of my instructors have even met a conservative, much less befriended one, or (gasp) voted for one. Just a note, the definition of fascism is: a system of government marked by the centralization of authority under a strict dictator. I don't know what Liberal to English dictionary a previous reviewer was using but I was unable to find a single mention of "evil corporations" under fascism in any dictionary
Rating: 
Summary: food for thought
Review: i haven't read the book, but i am intrigued by the argument, well more like, outraged. there is a lot of venom being spewed about college being liberal, the media being liberal, etc. the fact is, both college and the media are partisan, not liberal. there are plenty of top-notch universities in the deep south, texas, etc. that preach neoconservative values all day. this is a direct function of the regional politics. ivy league universities are in the northeast, which just happens to be a liberal stronghold. as far as the media, which is a little off subject, but relevant nonetheless. yes the new york times, washington post, cnn all lean to the left. i happen to think they're very fair in their treatment. there are many op-eds from the right side of the political spectrum. however, there are also many conservative media outlets; fox news, the wall street journal. the fact is, most people seek out a media outlet which reinforce their own, preconceived ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Paranoid Right-Wing Perspective of Education
Review: To right-wing paranoid conservatives, anyone getting a good education is being brainwashed. How this author can associate a college education with brainwashing is puzzling to me. There is no tolerance among right-wing extremists for anyone to get a different viewpoint and this is what this book is all about. The truth, as any non-paranoid person knows, is that these colleges provide people with the tools to choose a perspective for themselves. These young college students are not being held against their will to learn what they learn! They choose courses, a wide variety of different subjects. The right-wing extremists don't want them to have any choices other than what suits their agenda. This book is deceptive because what it is really saying is a good education is a dangerous thing, because it thwarts the brainwashing efforts of the GOP's propaganda machine. If people can think for themselves, they will see through the right-wing conservative agenda! Maybe that's why the latest Newsweek poll shows young people turning away from Bush. Don't underestimate the intelligence of college students to choose for themselves what to believe! How dare this author suggest they don't have the capacity to choose for themselves with regard to their education! So there are different viewpoints offered at colleges all across this country -- what are you wingnuts going to do about it!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, witty and provocative
Review: I usually choose the books I wish to read based on the Amazon reviews. This one I could not resist.
I trolled through it at Barnes and Noble and read half of it in an afternoon. I had to buy it and finish it.
Well I finised last night and debated whether to think about it for day or go ahead and review. No need to re-hash the premise here but author Shapiro makes a powerful case that todays college students are basically brainwashed by todays liberal professors. He uses plenty of examples, but I suppose we as the reader must assume that these are representative samples. It been a long time simce I attended school at yes folks - Berkeley. From my experience there as well as a few other encounters I find mysefl having to agree with the author. Of course as long as use the "new" definition of "liberal". These days liberals are considered communists, socialists and/or fascists. I agree with one reviewer in that I think the colleges are not liberal enough - using the the classical definition of "liberal" - that is based on the root word of "liberty" and that students and professors should have the "Liberty" to freely discuss and explore in any direction. I agree with the author that this is just the opposite of the current situation at most universities. The ones I have had dealings with are probably the most repressive institutions this side of the old Soviet Union re-education camps. Free discussion of the issues is all but prohibited at most of todays universities and our society os the poorer for it. Dissention is generally shouted down buy mindless chanting such as seen one time whwn John Stossel wanted to interview some students about "date rape". Questions were prohibited and Stossel was shouted down by a mob of screaming students chanting the same slogan over and over. I was embarassed and ashamed that foreigners may have been watching the show and wondering what hell we are doing - or worse not wondering. Intelligent speakers such as Thomas Sowell have experienced the same thing as have others who dare depart from the PC party line. It is no mystery why our society is in decline if this is state of higher education today. This is an important book and should be read by every parent with children close to college age. Todays college students are generally unprepared for the world and this inability to reason for themselves is a big part of the problem. No wonder that the number of foreign educated scientists and engineers is syrocketing. The leftists ( as opposed to the classical liberals such as myself ) have destroyed higher education in this country and failed in their misison to educate the next generation. If anyone is in doubt about Shapiros contentions, merely have a conversation with a non-techical college student. Ask a question - get a slogan. Many are like the little dolls with the string and ring and a little record inside. This is sad state of affairs and chronicled in a pointed and important book by Shapiro. I highly recommend this book. I wish he had used few more examples since his critics have used that to say his data is not representative. I give this one 4 1/2 stars, round it off to 5 for the Ivy League graduates incapable of understanding fractions - haha just kidding. This book is interesting and refreshingly honest. All should enjoy Shapiros wit and his pointed observations. Good work Ben. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Brutally Honest Look at Life in American Colleges
Review: This book is based on fact, not fiction. Anyone who has attended a state-funded college knows that liberal indoctrination is par for the course. In my experience, 95% of professors were liberal in their politics, lifestyle, and belief systems, and they make conservative students look like out-of-touch idiots. Though they say that all views are open for discussion, it is a lie. Every viewpoint but conservative ones are acceptable for discussion. Karl Marx, Bertrand Russell, even Bin Laden are considered great minds worthy of intense discussion. The mere mention of Jesus Christ or God is grounds for a failing grade, or at the very least a cruel reprimand from the professor on why we, as a society need to deliver ourselves from outdated doctrines and foolish Biblical commandments. Kudos to Ben Shapiro for his fantastic book!
Rating:
Summary: Are you sure these people are liberals?
Review: I find it funny that the author of this book calls the leftwingers on college campuses liberals. Many of them would be deeply insulted to be called that. In fact, anybody right of Lenin or Mao would be considered a fanatic by most in this setting and I'm afraid I am just mildly exaggerating here by stating that. Nevertheless, this book is important because it exposes a very real phenomenon and problem on our college campuses today. Most colleges are indeed leftwing indoctrination facilities and pity the naive person that dares offer a mildly conservative opinion while enrolled in one. This dastardly act does not often go unpunished. The advice I would give to any young person entering college is simple. Rousseau and Marx are the only intellectual figures that matter. If you keep this in mind you will no doubt earn high marks and avoid being labeled a fascist, racist, barbarian that should be shot at first chance.
Rating:
Summary: so old, so tired, so boring . . .
Review: What strikes me as odd is that the author privileges these institutions (he's chosen to attend two very good ones, UCLA and Harvard) when he could have easily gone to others. Why? Simply for the prestige, the power, the name, the politics? No, because academe is where ideas are born and grow, and the frequent presumption (sometimes incorrect) is that higher education is where one critiques norms, standard, myths, etc. Now, the author's arugument that American university's are biased is correct: they aren't liberal enough. Tenure stilts true progressive thinking and independent inquiry; and *progress* is the underlying assumption of all culture and post-enlightenment inquiry. I'm always baffled by the sheer lack of historical grounding the conservatives have when they come up such arguments. I notice one of positive reviewers cited the university system as a kind of "institutional facism"--facisim (if this reviewer knew what it really was, instead of using it as a convenient label) is the "marriage of the state with its corporations". Now, you tell me who the real facists of America are . . . Halliburton, Enron, etc., etc. It seems to me the author of this book should go to back to college and learn something about history , literature, and culture. Instead of worrying about being brainwashed, he might consider engaging a bit of critical thinking instead of dogmatic polemics. And Harvard let him in, so I'd be hard pressed to say Harvard's agenda is one of brainwashing. This disconnect between reality and ideology is so typical of conservative thinking. And don't forget the martyr syndrome, Where would are conservative friends be if they weren't self-righteously suffering under some perceived attack against them. So old, so tired, so boring . . . Addendum: A fan of my review noted they couldn't find a liberal to english dictionary to serve their interpretive purposes. Once again, the right shows its blatent ignorance and lack of historical orientation. From Mussolini's Doctrine of Fascism, 1932. 8. Conception of a corporative state (15) We have created the united state of Italy remember that since the Empire Italy had not been a united state. Here I wish to reaffirm solemnly our doctrine of the State. Here I wish to reaffirm with no weaker energy, the formula I expounded at the scala in Milan everything in the state, nothing against the State, nothing outside the state. (speech before the Chamber of Deputies, May 26, 1927 , Discorsi del 1927, Milano, Alpes, 1928, p. t57). (16) We are, in other words, a state which controls all forces acting in nature. We control political forces, we control moral forces we control economic forces, therefore we are a full-blown Corporative state. We stand for a new principle in the world, we stand for sheer, categorical, definitive antithesis to the world of democracy, plutocracy, free-masonry, to the world which still abides by the fundamental principles laid down in 1789. (Speech before the new Na-tional Directory of the Party, April 7, 1926, in Discorsi del 1926, Milano, Alpes, 1927, p. 120). The Ministry of Corporations is not a bureaucratic organ, nor does it wish to exercise the functions of syndical organizations which are necessarily independent, since they aim at organizing, selecting and improving the members of syndicates. The Ministry ofCorporations is an institution in virtue of which, in the centre and outside, integral corporation becomes an accomplished fact, where balance is achieved between interests and forces of the economic world. Such a glance is only possible within the sphere of the state, because the state alone transcends the contrasting interests of groups and individuals, in view of co-coordinating them to achieve higher aims. The achievement of these aims is speeded up by the fact that all economic organizations, acknowledged, safeguarded and supported by the Corpo-rative State, exist within the orbit of Fascism; in other terms they accept the conception of Fascism in theory and in practice. (speech at the opening of the Ministry of Corporations, July 31, 1926, in Di-scorsi del 1926, Milano, Alpes, 1927, p. 250). We have constituted a Corporative and Fascist state, the state of national society, a State which concentrates, controls, harmonizes and tempers the interests of all social classes, which are thereby protected in equal measure. Whereas, during the years of demo-liberal regime, labour looked with diffidence upon the state, was, in fact, outside the State and against the state, and considered the state an enemy of every day and every hour, there is not one working Italian today who does not seek a place in his Corporation or federation, who does not wish to be a living atom of that great, immense, living organization which is the national Corporate State of Fascism. (On the Fourth Anniversary of the March on Rome, October 28, 1926, in Discorsi del 1926, Milano, Alpes, 1927, p. 340). If the writer who critiqued my critique can't reconcile his conservative world view with reality, perhaps he should get a new dictionary.
Rating:
Summary: Bull's eye
Review: Ben Shapiro has a very funny and incisive way of exposing the left-wing fanatics on campus, who are doing their very best to indoctrinate a second generation of American youth. It's really a testament to the wisdom of this generation that so many of them have refused to go along with this indoctrination. Yes, America is becoming more conservative; but this is despite the strident efforts of the campus left. Yes, it's a topic that has been written about before; but Shapiro provides a truckload of fresh evidence. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Bold, Daring, Provocative. Accurate.
Review: Shapiro makes a bold move writing this book. I'll touch on a few points brought up by other reviewers, and then offer my own views about the book. I attended an undergrad in the "Bible Belt" and STILL was bombarded with moral relativism and socialist ideals. Is this altogether bad? No; you go to college expecting to hear diverse perspectives. The problem is, it isn't really diverse. I had one, maybe two conservative professors the entire time I spent as an undergraduate, and neither of them discussed their views in class. Are there probably some schools that have a conservative base or majority? Yep. According to another reviewer, whom I do not doubt. However, it is still virtually certain that the vast majority of professors, particularly those in the ivy league, are Liberal. Is it clear that these professors have a mindset that they want to "brainwash" their students? Well, at least some of them (see the book). Maybe even most, but certainly not all. Most of the Liberal professors I ran in to were not as forceful with their views as those in Shapiro's book. In fact, as more of my professors grew to know my perspectives, they seemed to be more cautious about imposing their beliefs. However, the subtlety with which they expressed their views initially was ridiculous; They would say things in passing, expressing that you were a fool if you disagreed. "Of course, there is no absolute Truth. Ok, moving on to Kenneth Burke.."
Argh! Research wise, Shapiro does a great job of citing sources etc. The only complaint I have is determining whether or not college actually indoctrinates students to the extent Shapiro seems to indicate; being around Liberal ideals has only made me more Conservative. The study he cites determines that those exiting college are more liberal than those entering it. I would like to see a "control group" of those not going to college polled while 18 and then again at 22. For this I'd take of a 1/4 or a 1/2 of a star. Even if this correlation were proven weak, this book would still be great, and is full of enough facts to be vaulable. However, I still think it is apparent that many students are influenced by these views. Particularly those who are not sure about their political stance (which includes most incoming college students). This book will anger you no matter who you are, although for different reasons depending on whether or not you're a conservative. If you're a student, parent, or just someone who has an interest in higher education or politics, I highly recommend this book.
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