‘Easy Doesn’t Pay Well’ Tempting to Listen to or Follow Easy Way, But Last 20+ Years Experience Proves Easy Doesn’t Work-Facing Reality Can; plus Sunday Weekly MHVille Headlines Recap
Easy doesn’t pay well is a wise maxim. Easy paths only lead downhill. It takes effort in any area of life to achieve a peak experience or a great outcome. Even modest outcomes require daily effort. If a 50–200-word post could solve all of the world’s ills, there have been billions of those brief posts on Facebook, X, Twitter, Instagram, Truth, or other social media in the last decade. Not one of those pithy posts, no matter how interesting or clever, solved the world’s ills or your challenges did it? Memes and video rants may be interesting or even insightful. But clearly some quick, easy fix isn’t coming. Politicians or professionals promising the easy way are always selling something that benefits themselves, their backers, and allies. Promises of easy routinely aim to lull the listener or reader into complacency.
Because the status quo is apparently fine in the minds of some leaders.
Right or wrong, a small number in our society and our profession (and other occupations or industries too) want the status quo.
So, an easy fix isn’t coming for our industry, for you personally, nor for our country.
“Easy doesn’t pay well.”
“Easy paths don’t lead to high peaks.”
The temptation to accept easy has never at any time in human history worked. It never will.
If that sounds harsh, it’s time to wake up, smell the coffee, and face reality. Because ignoring reality only guarantees that the current or a worse reality will continue.
Because by definition the easy paths only lead downhill.
The first two months of 2024 yielded some 15,830 homes. If that pace was maintained through the year it would equal about 94,980 total new HUD Code manufactured homes in the U.S. That would be a pace similar to the years 2019-2020, and less than 2018, 2021 and 2022. That would also be about 72 percent lower than production in 1998.
Part I – Unusual Minorities Rule – MHVille and American Implications
Among the headlines for the week in review linked below is a report that included an update on claims that the Trump Administration was considering legal action against specific antitrust violators in the manufactured housing industry. Antitrust cases were launched by Trump 1.0 in other industries. But it wasn’t just possible antitrust cases that were potentially thwarted when Trump was deposed. As the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and MHProNews previously reported, while President Donald J. Trump was still in the White House, a Trump Administration official said during a conference call that they were looking at implementing the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act) and its enhanced preemption provision.
MHProNews previously reported that a meeting was held by antitrust attorneys during the Trump Administration that discussed purported manufactured home industry antitrust violations.
Against that backdrop, a D.C. insider called MHProNews last week. That now former federal official said after a discussion with some Q&As the following. “Elections have consequences.”
That “Elections have consequences” remark apparently implied that when Trump was ousted, those discussions and considerations ended. What is not speculative is that During the Biden-Harris era, despite lots of happy talk that included mentions or possible support for some in manufactured housing, the industry suffered a downturn. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge is on record bluntly saying that the situation would not change. That is what “perpetually” means.
That Buffett-declared warfare takes place on several fronts. It includes, but is no limited to, regulatory, political, financial, and information.
Listen to this part of the late Charlie Munger’s advice during that left-leaning CNBC video interview: “One thing we’ve learned is, if it’s clear that something is a mistake, is to fix it quickly. It doesn’t get better while you wait.” Whatever disagreements MHProNews may editorially have about Munger, and there are plenty of those, that remark is demonstrably true.
When a mistake becomes obvious, then take steps to fix it quickly.
MHProNews for years published USA Today style or other hyper short 75-to-300-word articles. We frankly had plenty of clicks and readers. But the industry’s professionals and others were not waking up to what was occurring as a result of those few hundred-word articles. So, step-by-step, we patiently began providing longer, more detailed, evidence-packed articles. Articles that not only presented facts but also provided clearly labeled analysis. Our industry’s professionals began to respond. Traffic increased. Clicks to linked items became far greater on MHProNews than what SimilarWeb says left-leaning CNN or right-leaning Fox News experience.
People appear to be hungry to learn more. People want to understand. And in a curious sense, that too is a lesson from Warren Buffett, who said he spends hours a day just reading.
Life and everyone we learn about should give lessons of what to do and what not to do. The graphic above and some others can be opened to a larger size in many browsers. Click the image once. If a new window opens, then click that image or the plus image button to see the larger size. Then, use the back-browser arrow or key to return to this article.
For those who want a meme that tells the sobering story of why America and our industry are off course, the following pull quotes are useful.
While one article below is pretty short and includes a useful documentary video, most of the headlines for the week in review dig deeply into topics their respective headlines describe.
Without proper understanding, the ‘solutions’ proposed may or may not work. Who said? A genius like Albert Einstein and positive thinker Zig Ziglar.
Manufactured housing is the most proven and utterly necessary solution to the affordable housing crisis in the U.S. That is easy to prove. So, why hasn’t MHI provided this type of clarity and then hammered away at that theme?
Why haven’t any MHI linked trade media or bloggers pointed repeatedly to the need to enforce the enhanced preemption provision of the 2000 Reform Act? See the headlines for the week that was under the MHLivingNews recap, where two of the testimonies to Congress on the subject are provided.
Don’t miss today’s Postscript.
For those who are tired of being stuck in a rut that is all too often going downhill, it will take understanding and a sound plan of action to change course. It will take some personal effort. Yes, it may require some change. Hey, change is coming, like it or not. Change is here, like it or not. If you don’t like the changes that are occurring in the U.S. or in our profession, better dig in until understanding of what has gone wrong and what must be done are absolutely crystal clear.
While every topic and report that we curate and publish is significant, or we wouldn’t bother, absolutely don’t miss the Lois Starkey report linked below.
With no further adieu, here are the headlines for the week in review, from 4.14 to 4.21.2024.
Part II
What’s New on MHLivingNews (<— More new and recent reports there or here.)
Compared to MHI, MHProNews and MHLivingNews are very modest operations. Yet, the information above is arguably more relevant to why the manufactured housing industry is underperforming than a year’s worth of ‘content’ generated for the public by MHI. How is that possible? Why is that so? Simply put, it is because the powers that be behind MHI like the status quo, which leads to consolidation, or they would be moving heaven and earth to change it.
Some of the wealthiest private equity giants on planet earth are invested in manufactured housing. If BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, or Berkshire Hathaway they wanted to see the industry grow, without a doubt they have the financial clout, the lobbying clout, the political and financial clout to effect rapid change. Who said? How about Kevin Clayton?
Apparently, they must like the status quo too. The status demonstrably quo leads to consolidation. It is a slow, steady process. If it was all at once, perhaps more people would be shocked into acting.
Without a massive miracle(s), it will take time, understanding, and sustained effort to correct what has gone wrong in America and our industry. Without a miracle, don’t think that there are any quick fixes. And while praying for a miracle is laudatory, the ancients who lived at or shortly after the time of Christ didn’t just sit around and pray. They believed in ora et labora. Prayer and work.
A quick Google search reveals this about that famous phrase.
““Ora et labora,” we were told, was the sum of it all: prayer and work, balanced.” – So said the Rabbit Room.
Over 1000 years before Martin Luther and the start of what became the Protestant revolution in Christianity, left-leaning Wikipedia reminds readers that: Ora et labora is the traditional slogan of the Benedictines.[2] This derives from Benedict’s desire for his monks to have balanced lives, dominated by neither work nor prayer.[3] St. Benedict’s Rule prescribes periods of work for the monks for “Idleness is the enemy of the soul” (RB 48.1).[4]
Prayer and Work Go Hand in Hand, said John Tuttle via Medium. “A motto of St. Benedict’s was “Ora et labora.” The Latin phrase with a somewhat catchy rhythm translates as the command, “Pray and work.”…”This simple little sentence carries with it a number of possible facets to the spiritual and physical life.””
The point here is that some want to jack back and pray and do nothing more. Or hope and do nothing more. Or wait for someone else to do something, and nothing more. Prayer, hope, and work have long been combined. Waiting for someone else alone won’t work. Those are all aspects of the ‘easy way.’ The easy way is always downhill.
Manufactured housing ought to be growing at a record pace. But it isn’t. While MHProNews may editorially disagree with some things at UMH, their leaders are demonstrably correct when they say that there should be hundreds (or thousands) of new communities being developed every year.
There should be hundreds of thousands of new manufactured homes sold annually. Who said? MHI’s prior president and CEO, and that was following a reported consultation with Tim Williams at Berkshire owned 21st Mortgage.
MHARR said some 7 years ago that the industry needs a new post-production trade group. Others have too. That report by MHARR is as relevant now as it was then. Dig in. Take a look. See for yourself. Knowledge is potential power. Buffett reads stuff he may not agree with, but he reads.
The case can be made that Frank Rolfe is routinely self-serving. But he was right when he said that MHI blew it during the Trump-HUD Secretary Carson era.
Bill Gates understands Warren Buffett quite well. He said it. Buffett, and arguably others like him, look for weaknesses in markets that they can exploit. The same can be said about politics, about media, and so on. The wealthiest are not all evil, but many are entirely self-serving. They are creating a feudalistic society. They are fine with working with Marxists, communists, socialists, or whomever, so long as it advances their own quest for more money and more power. Buffett all but said so.
This statement is revealing. A parasite feeds on its host. Bill Gates admits he thought ill of Warren Buffett. But they got together on numerous business, nonprofit, and political levels. Clearly, whatever held Gates back he overcame. What he didn’t claim in this quote is that Buffett changed. There is an inference that Gates learned from Buffett and embraced that parasitic business model. https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/politicians-rich-want-more-power-warren-buffett-bad-guys-win-buffett-charlie-munger-interview-transcript-re/Several of the illustrations shown in this report can be opened in many browsers to reveal a larger size. To open this picture, click the image once. When the window opens, click it again to reveal the larger size photo. Use your browsers back key to return to the article.
These are not mere speculation. The evidence is in plain sight.
If billionaires can be toppled in a corrupted and manipulated system, what chance do millionaires or less stand in this new world order? The good news is that there are not too many billionaires compared to the billions of souls on planet earth.
Fresh reports you won’t find anywhere else in MHVille trade media start afresh tomorrow and every day next week. Grab whatever you need for the trip, knowing that every journey starts with a single step. ###
Our son has grown quite a bit since this 12.2019 photo. All on Capitol Hill were welcoming and interested in our manufactured housing industry related concerns. But Congressman Al Green’s office was tremendous in their hospitality. Our son’s hand is on a package that included the Constitution of the United States, bottled water, and other goodies.
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.
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