Life in These United States
Life in These United States
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
•There was once a Readers Digest staple by this name, still available in summaries.
•Here's mine. Keep in mind, when you critique someone who happens to be black, it's de rigueur to announce, “I'm not a racist.” Well, I'm announcing to you that I'm not a Trump supporter (and I'm also not a racist).
•Years ago we thought about selling our home. Every realtor who showed me “comparable's” I turned away, because there was no comparable's to this home. It's a lifestyle, not a house. You judge it on that basis, not the neighbors.
•People outside the US, especially in Europe, think that the US is simply like a European country, but much larger. (A client of mine in the EU, to whom I mentioned that Lichtenstein was the only European country I haven't visited, said, “Lichtenstein is in Europe?”)
•Trump is targeting some areas that need improvement, but where he should be using a scalpel he's using a flamethrower.
•We cannot allow unregulated, illegal immigrants into the US. (Does an “undocumented immigrant” make a rioter an “undocumented shopper?”) We cannot accommodate Latin America on our welfare system.
•Dismantling the hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of organizations, and tens of thousands of people from the divisive DEI is productive.
•Punishing—providing consequences—for universities which tolerate and even foster anti-Semitism and harm to Jewish students is an important consequence. “Hitler should have finished the job” is repugnant in moronic.
•Taking the graft and waste out of social security and Medicare isn't ending it, it's saving money. (Do you know that billions were lost through corruption and criminality during Covid PPP payouts?)
•It's interesting that when the US pulls out of an international aid group, the group usually has to close down, because no one else is supporting it sufficiently or intends to take over for us.
•It's pretty clear a great many people seem to hate us in the US, and want us to fail, and enjoy using profanity hiding behind the internet to question our intelligence and wish us all the worst.
•That's because they're envious of our freedoms, economy, and opportunities. It is self-hate directed outward. No country that declared neutrality in WWII should have any citizens voicing any critique of any country that fought they tyranny and oppression that threatened and killed so many.
•There are no “comparable's” to the US, anywhere. If you want us to fail, give it your best shot, but you're on the wrong side of history and the future.
•And some day, sooner or later, you're going to come around looking for our help again. You always do.
Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
