In our 24/7-news-cycle-social-media culture, it’s easy to think that we’re living in the craziest times in history — and perhaps we are.
How can we know when we should simply tune out the noise and focus on our lives and families versus when it’s time to engage, take action on a clear and present danger?
“That's a great question because you don't know where that fine line is,” mega-bestselling author Bob Burg told Freedom Media Network founder Curt Mercadante. “I think relatively few people do and so often the people who you think should and should be the watch guards and the guardians of such, I don't know if they know because they don't want to know.”
Burg is a hall of fame keynote speaker and co-author of the the four-book series of “The Go-Giver” books, which have sold more than one million copies. He also is author of the book, Adversaries into Allies: Master the Art of Ultimate Influence.
“There are many documentations of the fact that in certain ways, we live at the best time ever, in which we have technology that connects us, technology that can cure a lot of things, that the overall consciousness of humanity is getting better and higher,” said Burg. “And yet, there's so many really, really horrible, horrible things out there.
“I suspect that we don't hear a lot about much of the good that's going on because a lot of the good is not newsworthy. Again, it doesn't draw the eyeballs into all the awful things going on and there are plenty of awful things going on.”
So how can we tell what’s simply “noise” and what is truly a danger?
“I don't know if you do, Curt, but I think what we all need to do is just stay as conscious as we can and look around,” said Burg. “And continue to check your premises and always ask why; question why.
“I do think we need to be vigilant. I don't think it's thing we can ever just say, ‘Oh no. The government's going to take care of us.’ No, the government's, probably their ineptness, is probably going to allow a lot of the harm to happen.”
Burg pointed to the subtitle of Carol Roth’s recent book, The War on Small Business, (of which he is a fan and recommends).
“Now the subtitle (of Roth’s book) is, How The Government Used The Pandemic To Crush The Backbone Of America. I don't agree with that. I don't think the government used the pandemic to crush the backbone of small business,” explained Burg. “No, they just did two things really, really... Well, not bad for them, but bad for everyone else. And that is, first of all, they were controlled by politics and that swayed their emotions.
“They also just made a lot of mistakes based on that but there was a lot of cronyism. They were controlled by big business, which is the ones that donate the most money and they have the most influence. Whereas, small business people tend to be scattered and independent and they don't get together and pay off the government to make special laws, rules, and regulations.”
Burg said he’s a believer in what his mentor, and former Libertarian presidential candidate, Harry Browne, used to say: “Government does not need a conspiracy to mess things up. They do so just fine without it.”
Burg said that most people “listen to their favorite talking heads, whether it's on the left or the right, and that's where they get their knowledge.”
“But it really isn't necessarily knowledge, at least not complete enough to be right,” he said. “So, I think we need to be aware, but again we need to go back to how much influence on that level do we have? Probably not a whole lot. What we can influence is how we personally respond to what's going on in our lives.”
You can watch Mercadante’s longer discussion with Burg here: