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Summary: A review in anticipation of a damn good read!
Review: I, too, have not yet read this book. But I am about to order it and, whether or not it is a well or poorly written critique of modern academia, I am sure that I shall relate, wholeheartedly, to it's theme. I am British and attended Liverpool John Moores University between 1994-1997 where I obtained a joint BA honours degree in History and Economics. From the very beginning of that course the students were subjected to a constant barrage of anti-western / anti-american ideological drivel. It came primarily from the history faculty but it's content was extremely unpleasant, utterly ridiculous and often bizarre. I remember that the opening address to the freshmen of my year by one of the history lecturers consisted of an apology that "most of the historical figures that the course would be focusing upon were men" and he added "I apologise if this causes any offence". Throughout the course this lecturer clearly demonstrated that he was little more than a pitiful human void. Completely indoctrinated into the inwardly directed spiritual nihilism that is the hallmark of the far left. He was completely distanced from truth and objective reason. He had effectively been marooned from reality. I suspect that in another time and in another place this sort of individual would have been painting the Star of David on the windows of the homes and businesses of certain members of his own community. He was clearly an agent of hatred. It matters not that he himself, as a white male, was a member of that human grouping for which he frequently demonstrated such a profound loathing. Hatred is hatred. Brainwashing is brainwashing. The extreme left and the extreme right need both. The contemporary world of modern academia is presently being terrorised by the far left. I salute any writer or political activist who summons the will and has the guts to fight back. Without having read the book, on that score alone, it deserves five stars.
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Summary: Ah, yes, welcome to the old line of 'Liberal Universities'
Review: I'm a college student. I have been for ten years now. I majored in History and Lit. I can also say that the colleges that I've attended were not laced with liberal professors spouting liberal ideologies all over the place. In fact, very few of the proffs I've known have been raging liberals. Those who ARE liberal do not push their views on their students. In fact, I have seen far more often Conservative professors pushing their political views on their students. This is another attempt by a Conservative ideogogue to poison the well simply because he cannot stand the facts that are often placed into the curriculum.
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Summary: LIBERAL PROFESSORS
Review: This book was an entertaining read. Still being in collge, I can relate to almost all of Mr. Shapiro's observations. For example, my first day in a Spanish course my professor proceded to tell us all about the great crimes America had perputrated against Central America. The next day in orientation I was treated to a 20 minute rant about how George W. Bush was undermining civil liberties with the Patriot Act. Oh! And did I mention these were my first and second days in college?
Has anyone else noticed the high number of professors here repeating liberal views while denying a liberal bias on college campuses and blasting Mr. Shapiro? I guess education really doesn't equal intelligence, huh?
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Summary: Thanks Ben
Review: I wish I had read this book before going to college. I became involved in animal rights activism and the pro-choice movement. It wasn't until I joined the real world that I began to see the light. I blindly voted Democrat until I was 28 years old.
Looking back now, I can see how I was manipulated by liberal teachers and the mainstream media. Cable TV news did not exist back then. It wasn't until I started to examine the issues on my own that I realized I was not really a liberal at all. I have read Mr. Shapiros columns online & he is a very thoughful writer. This book will be an eye opener for those who may not be aware of how liberal colleges have become.
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Summary: UCLA Professor Robert Watson said it best...
Review: when he points out that "...the guy who lectures us about respecting alternative viewpoints insists the social views of liberal professors 'can only be called evil. And this evil must be eradicated before it spreads and engulfs the aspiring youth of our nation in its dark and shadowy tentacles.' Yes, thus speaks the great advocate of fair-minded treatment of differing ideologies on campus." (Daily Bruin, May 12, 2004)Another observation of Prof. Watson is "[S]omeday, Ben Shapiro will realize the people who offered to publish his carelessly edited compendium of obvious falsehoods and adolescent zingers were not really his friends. But it will take time, because people have been slapping him on the back...and telling him what a courageous lad he is to stand up on the side of the big corporations, the wealthy, the military, the church, and the party that controls the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives - against the terrifying force of liberal professors armed with critiques." (Daily Bruin, May 12, 2004) Factual inaccuracies such as the ones in this book haven't stopped Fox News or conservative talk radio, so I have no reason to believe people will not continue to be "brainwashed" by this piece of garbage.
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Summary: the unfettered tooth
Review: shame on you mr. shapiro; i'm so embarrassed by your revelations. how dare you expose our efforts to hypmotize, brainswash and dupe so many young, naive americans! god help the poor few who never read your book! these poor pathetic souls have all joined the dean camp. only fox news can save them now!
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Summary: I watch in sadness
Review: I watch in sadness as my country is torn apart by political strife, where no one is allowed a dissenting opinion and respect for others is out the window. To me, this is clearly a case of divide and conquer. I ask "liberals" to look past the rhetoric in the book and see what legitimate complaint Shapiro (and many others) have about the higher education system. I ask "conservatives" to look past emotional attachments to ideals and deconstruct how our society functions (and does not function) for its members. People, we need to talk and discuss, not take sides.
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Summary: Notice how every other review has one star or five
Review: Has everyone turned into an idealouge? Can anyone think without their biases? Can anyone approach the world with a curious and critical mind? I was blown away to find that every review of Brainwashed has one star or five. Not one reviewer has taken an intellectually honest and objective look at the book. It's either God's gift to man or expensive toilet paper. Not one person recognized that the book, like most everything in life, has its positive and negative qualities. People, if you take the simplistic view that everything in life is black or white good or evil, you do an incredible diservice to the complex nature of creation. The people who gave it one star probably didn't read it and the people who gave it five probably approached it like a holy document, meaning in their blind conservative ideological faith they predetermined its truth. They read it not to learn, but to have their "faith" reconfirmed. Brainwashed, I just came out of one of the most liberal institutions in the country and far from brainwashing me, it taught me how to think. It taught me to approach the world and especially the media(TV, Books, Newspapers etc.) with a critical and quesitoning mind. Now who's brainwashed me who thinks or you who blindly accepts. If someone wants to write a book about brainwashing they should look at the cults of devotees who follow America's poltical talking heads never questioning and never openmindedly considering the other view. Read and Question all perspecitves that is the path to True knowledge. If anyone wants to get unbrainwashed try openly considering the other perspective. Here's a good prescription: Take a couple hours every week and spend equal time on www.thenation.com and www.weeklystandard.com. Then make a list of the good points on each site. If you repeatedly can't come up with any good points for one site then you're still brainwashed. If you don't want to be an independent thinker then keep reading, watching, listening your chosen political gurus with blind faith. Congratulations your a follower who as a citizen contributes nothing to the "conversation" necessary for a healthy productive democracy. Congratulations you've elected to proliferate the red blue dichotomy that's drowning America in unrelenting partisanship. PS - generalizing about liberals or conservatives is unbelievably stupid and necessarily makes one an idealouge. Ex. Everything liberals/conservatives say is wrong/lie/false therefore I will not consider anything from the liberal/conservative perspective. Much like people liberals and conservative are a diverse group of people. Hello, 9 Democrats ran for the party nomination. Does Joe Lieberman seem all that similar to Al Sharpton. In closing poltical opinions should not be like the ten commandments. They shouldn't come from faith in an ideology. Rather they should come from long periods of questioning, research, and reflection. You can be a liberal who's Pro-Life, against Affirmative Action, against the death tax, for a flat tax, and still hate Bush with a passion. Believe me, I know.
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Summary: The book doesn't have a a shred of fact...
Review: The book lacks a more through examination of the entire academic system. It seems to be a blatant attempt to discredit the academia. I have gone through the academic system as a college student-and found many inspiring ideas there-some of which conservatives like Shapiro would recoil at-like Amnesty International. I was very happy that the academic system is a way of inspiring open dialogue on a variety of issues like rich vs poor in an economic society or US domination in the world. Conservatives like Shapiro ought to understand that the typical college or university is a place to learn a variety of ideas-an example would be literature written by minority, gay/lesbian or women authors-which must be encouraged and taught for sake of diversity. Mr Shapiro cannot impose his will on many others-and he needs to understand that the place of academia is a place to learn a lot of ideas.
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Summary: Typical Shapiro
Review: Being a UCLA student, I am quite familiar with Shapiro's writing, as it has appeared in the Daily Bruin. I have always found it to be sloppy, weak, and grounded in fiction. This book, I am not surprised to learn, embodies these qualities. I could rant for hours about its shortcomings, but I feel those shortcomings are best represented with a single complaint. I understand that Mr. Shapiro accuses the wife of a UCLA professor of being a brainless, lousy American because of a comment she made at a meeting on campus that took place during President Bush's inauguration. I was at that meeting, and Ben Shapiro was not. I was moved by what she had to say, expressing her love for the principles of our country. Shapiro should be ashamed of himself for his twisted use of second-hand information. One more thing: I read in the Daily Bruin that Shapiro believes a hole in the missile defense system should be left over Harvard because of its refusal to participate in an ROTC program, and, yet, he plans to attend Harvard Law School next year. If he has a shred of integrity, he will stand by his own principles and not attend Harvard. Rather, he should join the armed services that he cherishes when it is convenient for him to do so. I, myself, am a 2nd Lieutenant in the army, and I am personally offended by Shapiro's exploitation of our service men and women to promote himself. I call on him, if it is indeed true that he plans to go to Harvard next year, to reconsider.
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