Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth

Ben Shapiro

Jun 2010 · HarperChristian + ORM

About this ebook

Brainwashed is the explosive exposé of the leftist agenda at work in today's colleges, revealed by firebrand Ben Shapiro—syndicated columnist, podcaster, radio show host, and one of today's most exciting conservative voices—who’s been on the front lines of the battle for America's young minds. This book proves once and for all that so-called higher education continues to sink lower and lower into the depths of liberal madness as close-minded professors turn their students into socialists, atheists, race-baiters, and sex-crazed narcissists.

In this book, author Ben Shapiro asks three critical questions:

• Why are universities so biased?
• Why do students take their professors at face value?
• What can we do to stop it?

In addition to outlining practical solutions as part of a multi-pronged strategy to deal with this problem, Brainwashed encourages students to

• consider the motives of their professors;
• pay attention to how professors use facts and editorialize during lectures; and
• ask questions, encourage debate, and think before buying into a professor’s mindset.

Praise for Brainwashed:

"Ben Shapiro's writing is smart, informative, and incisive.  He is wise beyond his years without losing the refreshing fearlessness of youth." Ann Coulter, bestselling author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Slander, and Treason

"In Brainwashed, Shapiro tells the truth—that universities are forums of left-liberal indoctrination, where dissent is discouraged and penalized, with more restrictions on free speech rather any other part of American society. Parents who are paying for tuition might want to take note, and see what their hard-earned money is paying for." Michael Barone, U.S. News & World Report and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics

"Welcome to P.C. 101. In this trenchant insider's expose, Ben Shapiro bears witness to the modern American campus freak show. You'll get up close and personal with the Marxist loons, moral relativists, multicultural zealots, and American-haters who are corrupting young minds. Brainwashed reveals the ignominious lows to which higher education has sunk. Get deprogrammed. Buy this book!" Michelle Malkin, nationally syndicated columnist and author of Invasion

"Sharp thinking, tight writing, crazy-but-true stories: Ben Shapiro sees campus brainwashing and raises a national protest. This is a good book to give both freshmen who need warning and voters/alumni who need to take action." Dr. Marvin Olasky, University of Texas professor and editor-in-chief of World magazine

"A worthy successor to God and Man at Yale and Harvard Hates America in exploring the belly of the academic beast." David Horowitz, founder of Students for Academic Freedom and author of Radical Son and Left Illusions

"What Animal House did for the toga party, Brainwashed should do for American resistance to campus radicalism." Rusty Humphries, nationally syndicated radio talk show host

Ratings and reviews

Es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis Shapiro auch in den Universitäten s.g. Verschwörungen anprangert. Wäre Ghoebels noch am Leben, er wäre stolz und vermutlich würde Shapiro nur zu gern dessen Posten übernehmen. Qualifikation dafür hätte er. Er ist ein Meister darin, alles so zu verdrehen, dass alles, was seinem Weltbild widerspricht lächerlich gemacht und als angeblich unglaubwürdig dargestellt wird. Shapiro zeichnet sich neben einem hohen Maß an Selbstüberschätzung und Arroganz insbesondere durch seine Borniertheit aus und dadurch, dass er mental in den 30ern hängen geblieben ist, in die er sich wohl auch zurücksehnt. Praktisch ist seine Masche für ihn, denn so können Leute, die wesentlich belesener, gebildeter, reflektierter und argumentativer sind als er einfach in die Ecke der Indoktrinierten gestellt werden. Auf diese Weise hat Shapiro in seiner Welt immer Recht. Was dabei ein Jammer ist, ist dass er ein falsches Bild an Nichtakademiker vermittelt, wie Universität angeblich sei.

Ben Shapiro is deeply rooted in his religious ideology, persistently advocating for it. Quite intriguingly, he's a prolific writer and asserts that higher education indoctrinates individuals. One could interpret this as an effort to destabilize education and promote ignorance or rigid belief systems, which ironically, Shapiro seems to be encouraging inadvertently. The contradiction lies within his book, where he criticizes higher education for indoctrinating students, while himself, a theocrat.

Overall content and organization of this accurate critique of education is top notch and more relevant than ever in 2018. The message is clear and concise, and for a compendium of pieces of liberal propaganda in the education system; it does its job and then some. However, for an eye opener or appealing text overall, it is somewhat dull. The sarcasm is appreciated and duly noted, but I believe the lack of philosophical rhetoric that educates the reader on making their education and thoughts their own it falls short. Until the very end of the book this is rarely addressed, where I imagine most would have dropped the title immediately by then. I have been an avid fan of Shapiro's speeches and debates, his early work in literature leaves much to be desired to keep you engaged at times, yet still has enough taste to warrant a look at his newer publications. I'm hopeful for the next book I have purchased. My final word is: Watch him debate if you have not...and read this novel.