“As more lives and communities are destroyed by the system that creates vast amounts of wealth for the few, the more heroic it sounds to “give back.” It’s what I would call “conscience laundering” — feeling better about accumulating more than any one person could possibly need to live on by sprinkling a little around as an act of charity.”
– Peter Buffett,
son of Warren Buffett’s and the co-head of
Berkshire’s Buffett funded Novo Foundation.
“Monopolies are wrong!”
– Elon Musk,
billionaire co-founder of Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring Company.
“You cannot start an economy when ownership is in question.”
– Chinery-Hesse,
in the acclaimed Poverty, Inc. docudrama
which can be streamed on Netflix.
“Having a heart for the poor isn’t hard.
Having a mind for the poor, that’s the challenge.”
– Poverty, Inc.,
award-winning docudrama.
“First, as the Microsoft case and other enforcement actions…show, we already have in our possession the tools we need to enforce the antitrust laws…U.S. antitrust [i.e. anti-monopoly] law is flexible enough to be applied to markets old and new.”
“Good students of history… will remember that Thomas Jefferson was serving as U.S. Ambassador to France…On December 20, 1787, Jefferson wrote to his friend James Madison with his views about the draft Constitution… “I will now add what I do not like. First the omission of a bill of rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal & unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land & not by the law of Nations.”
– Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim,
top antitrust official in the Department of Justice,
from a speech on June 11, 2019.
“Third, clever positioning should not obscure what is otherwise ordinary
evidence of an antitrust violation. Where a company has market power, enforcers
should be circumspect about conduct that does not plausibly advance a legitimate
business objective and transactions that eliminate competition.”
– Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim,
top antitrust official in the Department of Justice,
from a speech on June 11, 2019.
Preface. Sources noted herein are making the headline allegations. Facts are what they are. Facts may be uncomfortable or ‘politically incorrect’ at times. But facts remain facts. Pointed questions, a search for the truth, and ‘following the money trail’ are the tools that good investigators and journalists have used for decades.
Money is fungible. Few grasp that reality better than Warren Buffett.
Warren Buffett’s son Peter heads up the NoVo Foundation. Peter has admitted in a video interview to the existence of the notion that Laura Flanders and the left-of-center The Nation have referred to as “Philanthro-Feudalism.” Note: what follows begins by cited several left-of-center sources, but will include others from the right-of-center. Facts are facts, and it is an example of the importance of applying the ancient and proven principle of separating the wheat from the chaff.
Feudalism, says the Oxford Languages, was the “dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.”
- Doesn’t that increasingly describe what is occurring in American society?
- Aren’t billionaire overlords who run and dominate big multinational corporations at work providing paid services to the military-industrial complex?
- Sites like Open Secrets document how such proverbial oligarch billionaire “lords” have cut sweetheart ‘crony capitalist’ deals through lobbyists and campaign donations.
- In turn, they get favorable tax treatment for themselves, and they also shelter their wealth offshore and domestically through foundations such as the NoVo Foundation, the Susan T. Buffett Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to name but a few.
“Behind the Curtain…”
Jeff Reynolds is the author of BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy. From that volume is the following, which connects Blacks Lives Matter with the Tides Foundation. Reynolds’ book has 5 stars on GoodReads.
Anther author, Stephen Strang, details in his book the connections between leftist groups which certain law enforcement professionals have said are center stage which in turn references the left-of-center and billionaire Jeff Bezos owned Washington Post.
While George Soros is explicitly named by Strang, the organizations he lists have some clear “dark money” ties to the Tides. As various sources have reported, the biggest donor to the Tides for several years has been Buffett’s NoVo Foundation.
Strang’s about us page on “Trump Aftershock” says: STEPHEN E. STRANG is the best-selling author of God and Donald Trump, which was brandished by the president during his appearance at Davos World Economic Forum in 2017. The CEO and founder of Charisma Media, Strang was voted by Time magazine as one of the most influential evangelicals in America. He has traveled to more than fifty countries, interviewed four US presidents, and has been featured on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBN, Family Talk With Dr. Dobson, and The DailyCaller.com.
Strang’s book is heavily footnoted and has 4.5 stars on Amazon.
The anti-communist Epoch Times reports this morning, 6.5.2020, that “Attorney General William Barr says that the Department of Justice has evidence that Antifa and other extremist groups have been involved in “instigating and participating” in recent riots.
“Barr also says that foreign actors have played a role in the violence,” said the Epoch Times.
Several media outlets showed a video clip of a black woman weeping as she lamented the loss of the stores she used to shop in her neighborhood. “Why destroy my business? I tried to make it.” That lament was from a black store owner in the wake of the devastation caused by riots, per the U.K. Daily Mail. See the related reports linked herein and after the byline for more.
MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
MHProNews and our MHLivingNews sister site for several years have been unraveling the threads that connect Warren Buffett, his close ally Bill Gates and other billionaires to what Peter Buffett called “Philanthropic Colonialism” and he concurred with Laura Flanders with the “Philanthro-Feudalism” nomenclature.
Facts are the opposite of ‘conspiracy theories,’ because conspiracy theories by their nature have scant or no evidence. When the people involved in various allegations or reported concerns are saying something themselves, and others of repute present additional evidence, the results of compiling and organizing such evidence are a call to action.
Once more for emphasis, facts and evidence are the opposite of mere opinion, spin or ‘conspiracy theories.’
Right-of-center Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is periodically critical of President Trump and his administration. He agrees on some topics and disagrees on others. So, Carlson is no blind 45th president partisan. An example is Carlson’s often repeated belief that the economic lockdown of so many businesses was unnecessary, pointing to Sweden as an example of how a more focused quarantine and restrictions could have worked better.
Carlson noted last night near the close of his program that it is big businesses that are quietly cheering, as well as financially supporting, Black Lives Matter (BLM). One reason Carlson floated merits consideration by the manufactured housing industry and all others who have ties to smaller or independent businesses. Carlson said that riots and looting will put numbers of small business out of business. That is what he said, using his own words, that big companies want.
The giant conglomerates in our industry and so many others have been on a steady campaign of consolidation that is arguably monopolistic. They often use an oligarchic approach, a few companies that seemingly work in tandem to effectively monopolize the market between them. These giant players may call it M&A – “mergers and acquisitions“- or some other phrase. But the de facto result is that it puts small businesses out of business as independents, either by buying or forcing them out.
The giants have a variety of methods for doing so, all while posturing being white knights for their so-called ‘charitable’ giving. Who says? Just read what Peter Gates and others cited have said.
But upon closer scrutiny, Buffett, Gates, and others in the billionaires club have supported activities that have arguably undermined the interests of minorities and working or middle class whites too. But particularly harmed are blacks, as the wealth disparity often cited by the political left accurately reveals.
What too few note, however, is that the ones giving the charity are also favoring and promoting policies that hurt African Americans and other minorities.
The Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate has numerous subsidiaries, such as Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF), and others that are Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) members.
Rephrased, authors and sources on both sides of the left-right divide have pointed to facts and references that identify nonprofits that Buffett, Gates, Soros and others are directly tied to and funding; and money is fungible.
Is it a coincidence? Are those in media who give Buffett, Gates and others ‘cover’ correct to ignore evidence that is contrary to what they choose not to report?
MHProNews has stressed that evidence and logic – common sense – ought to be applied. Why would these oligarchs deploy such tactics? Several possible motives are possible, including money, power, and a way to manipulate markets without having their hand directly on the activities. That seemingly ‘arms-length’ distance, however melts when years of the same pattern plus their own words are connected like neatly fitting puzzle pieces.
Buffett’s brands, MHI and key MHI members have failed to promote the obvious solutions to the affordable housing crisis that could lift potentially millions of African Americans, other minorities and whites who are not homeowners out of the rental trap and into equity and wealth building. It was black HUD Secretary Ben Carson who cheered manufactured homes, saying that the typical household that owns a home has 40x the wealth as renters. The ratio, said Carson repeatedly, is $200,000 in household wealth average vs. $5,000 for renting households.
There are several things that key officials in the Trump Administration could do. State and even some local officials could assist. It boils down to enforcement of existing laws.
– HUD must use its enhanced preemption authority to foster the placement of more manufactured housing.
– FHFA should compel the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs or “Enterprises”) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to enforce the Duty to serve manufactured housing provision, as Mark Weiss called for in his May 11, 2020 letter to Director Calabria.
– Persian ancestry DOJ antitrust Ast AG Makan Delrahim should enforce antitrust action against the conglomerates arguably manipulating the manufactured home and broader housing market. State AGs could readily play a potentially profitable role in that too.
– all others laws regarding corrupt, illegal practices that could include RICO, the Hobbs Act and more should be explored and deployed accordingly.
Updates 7.1.2020
Warren Buffett Declared “Class Warfare,” Buffett Says Fellow Billionaires – “We’re Winning”
Returning to Original Post – Note: This Report has over 1.1 million hits in June
There is always more to know. Follow the related resources and other reports linked from this researched topic.
Dig deeper into the allegations of what could well be one of the most troubling issues of our times, and it has clear ties to our industry along with so many others.
Updates 6.13.2020:
Leaked Secret Democratic Memo On Black Lives Matter Emerges; “Haven’t Seen Sh-t Like This Before”
The Big Lie:
Statistics don’t necessarily make something true or false. That said, it bears mention that thousands of industry readers daily vote with their browsers, devices, and time to make MHProNews the runaway #1 place for authentic “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
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“MHI Lies, Independent Businesses Die” © – True or False? – Berkshire’s Joanne Stevens Strikes Again
