Please Enroll Responsibly: Avoid Indoctrination at College

by Lee Doren

Enrolling in a typical sociology class appears to be the most efficient way to destroy brain cells. While some people argue binge drinking is worse, one must consider that hangovers are temporary and significantly less expensive. Leftist indoctrination, on the other hand, leads to permanent brain damage along with incredible financial debt. Please enroll responsibly. This book is your helmet for higher education. Like a helmet, it cannot guarantee to protect you, but it may mitigate the trauma. It is written for students, parents and those who want to guard their children from the potential damage college can inflict on young minds. Students enroll in college assuming they’ll graduate smarter. What they don’t realize is that many professors spout their leftist ideology in the classroom without offering opposing opinions. Students fear their grades will suffer if they question what they are taught. Lee Doren sets out to help students conflicted with this dilemma. He also provides advice for families wondering if college is still worth the price. He writes from personal experience detailing his own political transformation from a liberal “community organizer” to an advocate for limited government.

Genres: Nonfiction

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2011

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lee has certainly done a respectable job on making sure his information is well backed (most of the time) and it is more than evident that he has spent a great deal of time making sure he has left no stone unturned. I must, however, consider myself somewhat disappointed with this "book".

I cringe to actually call this work a book. It took me a little less than an hour to finish and it wasn't particularly difficult or mentally challenging to read. A good half of the contents are simply references and short abstracts explaining a source's significance. If you are already familiar with Lee's HowTheWorldWorks Youtube channel and have watched much of its content, then nothing about this book should surprise you or be new to you. While many of the examples Lee uses are indeed new to even a regular watcher like myself, many of them are only so in specific details. This "book", while certainly built to be one, doesn't read like one. It reads like a compilation of short essays and blog entries.

Besides my displeasure with how the book is written, my only argumentative complaint is that Lee seems to make faulty generalizations about liberals in college (I say "seems" only because I take the limits of such inductive reasoning into account when trying to make claims about groups of people). Lee cannot take particular instances and then conclude that those instances represent a credible generalization. I'm not saying the education system isn't liberal per se; I am stating that I don't think the portrait of liberal-secreting universities Lee paints is actually reflective of just how liberal universities really are. Lee complains of Amherst College offering a class discussing the effects of Karl Marx (in actuality, looking at the college website, it looks like the class Lee whines about doesn't exist, at least one with Lee's description); honestly, if the fact that a course was offered is sufficient justification for the accusation of indoctrination, then it is perfectly legitimate to attack any commercial, ad, or sales pitch of any good or service as coercion.

And really, using the Youtube comments? If Lee wants to use those as evidence of liberal dismissal of truth, then he MUST explain how the comments section of specific Youtube videos (along with other internet mediums) can be a reliable metric. He hasn't exactly done a good job of doing so.

The fact that it is a quick and easy read can be an advantage: a lot of students in college are not very well read and shouldn't have much difficultly reading this as a supplement. If, however, Lee wants this "book" to be taken seriously by more mature college students, then he has to make it into an actual book, even if it may be at the expense of some potential readership.

[Recynd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book should be required reading for all parents of students heading for college who are wary of the overt liberal agenda that has saturated many of today's universities. Doren offers practical tips for conservative (or even on-the-fence) students to manage liberal professors and classes without allowing this fundamental difference in world view to impact the student's grade negatively. This book is never a rant, though it is unapologetically right-leaning; for this reason, I would NOT recommend it for any solid liberal whose mind is already made up...it would not only be a waste of your time, but it would probably prove to be needlessly provocative as well. However, while inherently controversial, the book's tone remains civil throughout. Doren never stoops to cheap insults or name-calling, nor does he suggest outright revolt, correctly asserting that these tactics would only hurt the student.

One does not need to be an avowed Republican to see that there is something amiss in our educational system. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself independently before going into massive debt to pay for an education that may not guarantee you a job in your desired field...or anywhere else, for that matter. No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall, this book is an excellent starting point for those gearing up to begin navigating higher education in America.

[Eric at Compass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave several interesting things to consider

I like hearing others viewpoints, and he gave me plenty of food for thought. It was also interesting to read about his personal transformation

[Michael Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee Doren's book, Avoid Indoctrination at College, was a book that I found filled with useful and cogent information about the leftist laced environment that students deal with everyday at four year colleges. I went to college in the late 1980's and I could relate to what Doren describes.

Doren matter of fact writing style is very approachable, honest, and unpretentious. I have enjoyed Doren's channel, Howthewordworks on YouTube and his down to earth fact based approach found on Howtheworldworks has been successfully translated into the written word.

Doren cites specific examples when he talks about college professor indoctrination and discusses why this is occurring on campuses today.

At the end, Doren provides a list of economic and conservative resources including, blogs, books, radio programs etc.

I like this book a whole lot and was sad to reach the end so soon.

Highly recommend this book to High School and college students as well as parents. It should be required reading!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers some excellent primers for anybody who is sympathetic towards freedom, liberty, free markets, and the like who is either entering college, in college, or is sending someone to college. Especially insightful is the section outlining his advice for students who happen to be stuck in courses that are taught by leftist professors (note I used "leftist" and not "liberal" as the latter will usually allow more dissent in thinking, while the former will take very poorly towards dissimilar thinking), much of which I can verify as succeeding when stuck with a professor who you either disagree with, or is flat-out wrong about what the truth is. In addition, he makes a good point about not attempting to change the professors' minds, but he does stress enough (he only gets at it in a round-a-bout manner) that you should definitely attempt to persuade your fellow students through the use and reference to studies, hard facts, and statistical data, i.e. anything that is much harder to refute. Overall, a good book that can be easily finished in one sitting.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Provides valuable information and reliable citation on bias in higher ed, but is perhaps not as vigorous in examining its own. I realize that's not the purpose of this book, but I found it disappointing nonetheless.

An editor would've helped. There are only so many misplaced "[sic]s" and conclusions beginning with "Overall" a guy can take.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this book, but as soon as I started reading I couldn't put it down. This book is amazing! Every college student should read this book. I'm only 2 weeks into college and I've already had my fair share of Marxist indoctrination (and I'm at the Baptist university Baylor University).

I'm so glad I read this book!