“Indoctrinated” by Ron Malhotra

Indoctrinated

Ron Malhotra
KMD Books (2022)
ISBN: 978-0645466348
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (01/2023)

“Indoctrinated: How The Conventional Education System Perpetuates Conformity, Mediocrity & Indistinguishability” by Ron Malhotra begins by listing the steps taken to indoctrinate an individual. Areas where we commonly see indoctrination are racism, crime, politics, sexism, religion, finances, and, most importantly in education.

The author delves into how indoctrination has crept its way into our educational system. He sees our society as becoming less educated and more indoctrinated. The higher the level of education, the more the indoctrination. Less focus is placed on the development of the person as a whole through learning, with more emphasis on the individual being educated to just go to work. We are producing workers rather than independent, creative thinkers. Indoctrination creates people who are not prepared to be objective. We are losing the opportunity to gain wisdom and think beyond what we already know.

Malhotra impressed me with the amount of research and time that he invested in this work. The topics revolving around indoctrination are well organized and explained clearly. The author goes in depth to explain how education evolved in societies from cultures all over the world. I found this to be incredibly interesting. He also goes on to explain how we’ve gotten to where we are today with education, moving students away from being able to engage in independent critical thinking and into a form of indoctrination where they are told how to think. Interesting examples, which greatly help illustrate his points, are discussed. From the past to the present, we learn about the sociological aspects of how we have gotten to where we are today. This includes examples of how indoctrinated individuals are dealing with the COVID pandemic. This has created so much division in our society today!

 “Indoctrinated,” really hit home for me, because I am a community college advisor, and I see it happening. I also have students who are very aware of how the educational system works to indoctrinate them into one set of beliefs, and they do not feel that they are allowed to think independently or express their own views. Unfortunately, they feel it is the only way for them to get their education. The education that is required for them to accomplish their career goals. So, they decide to “play the game,” and pretend to accept what is being thrown at them, so that they can get the grades that they need to transfer on to higher education. Unfortunately, as Malhotra points out, the higher the education, the more the indoctrination. So, there will be a point where these students will either give in and accept indoctrination or they will drop out.

“Indoctrinated,” is a must read for people who are concerned with how our society is currently functioning. It is an eye opener!