Some parents who are concerned about their children receiving a steady diet of liberal-left indoctrination in schools and colleges regard the summer vacation as a time to show these young people a different way of looking at things, with readings presenting viewpoints that are unlikely to be heard in classrooms that have become indoctrination centers.

Fortunately, there is a growing body of literature-- both books and articles-- presenting a very different viewpoint in readable language.

The academic year often ends with commencement speakers who have been in government, academia, foundations or various crusading movements, who tell the graduates how much nobler it is to go into such organizations, rather than into business.

Such self-flattering talk is seldom challenged by educators. But an outstanding recent book, "The Best-Laid Plans" by Randal O'Toole, gives a richly documented account of government actions and their consequences, and shows a far from flattering side of politicians, "experts," and environmentalists-- who have ruined cities and suburbs in countries around the world.

Highly praised projects created by leading "experts" have repeatedly led to economic and social disasters, whether in Europe or the United States. The fundamental problem is that people don't want to live the way elites want them to live.

A classic example was the Pruitt-Igoe project in St. Louis, which had an extraordinary vacancy rate of 25 percent, rising eventually to 65 percent, before the whole project was demolished.

But, tragically, the assumptions behind such projects have not been demolished.

One statistic in "The Best-Laid Plans" shoots down one of the biggest lies of the environmentalist movement-- that laws are needed to keep development from paving over the last remnants of open space. That statistic is that all the urban areas in the United States, put together, cover less than 3 percent of the land.

This statistic is all the more remarkable when you realize that O'Toole uses the Census definition of "urban"-- any community with at least 2,500 people. That would include towns and villages, as well as cities.

Another remarkable and eye-opening book is "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. So many liberals use the term "fascism" to condemn conservative ideas that it may come as a revelation to many that the original fascism was in fact a doctrine having far more in common with the left than with conservatism. Continued...