Bread and circuses were provided to mollify and occupy the masses in Rome before the collapse and fall of the once-impressive Roman Empire occurred. The evidence of that empire can still be found in place around the Mediterranean world. Fast forward from ancient Rome to 2020-2021. Those in some level of lockdown or who are otherwise out-of-work may tap into a wide range of electronic diversions, use a SNAP or an EBT card for food or essentials, and have access to alcohol and drugs to ease their emotional pain. Modern bread and circuses anyone?
One looks at history because there are insights and lessons to learn. Back then, many vainly thought ancient Rome would never fall. Similarly, many in the U.S. for some years vainly thought that the American Republic could not fall either.
The wise study history because anything that has happened before can occur again. Things may look different. It may – and will – have nuances or details that are distinctive.
That noted, Warren Buffett and some of his billionaire buddies understand the lessons of history quite well. Ponder some of Buffett’s related quips.
“Failing conventionally is the route to go; as a group, lemmings may have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever received bad press.” – Warren Buffett.
“If past history was all that is needed to play the game of money, the richest people would be librarians.” – Warren Buffett. Note this quote is not to impugn the value of history or “librarians” or “history.” Rather, it was to note that something in addition to a knowledge of history is necessary. Not that Berkshire Hathaway’s “Oracle of Omaha” needs affirmation, but on the specifics and nuances of those quotes, MHProNews concurs.
But it is this gem that also bears some discernment from the cunning Buffett.
“What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.” Therein lies the opportunity for those who do study history properly and objectively and are willing to learn its lessons. Note that the wily Buffett has also said that he personally enjoys studying biographies and other histories.
Ideas or insights are the start, but they need to be followed up by action.
Words and the Law
Words have meaning.
In legal matters, the choice of words or the manner of addressing a legal question matter too.
For a legal issue to proceed, specific predicates or foundation(s) should exist. Among the topics in our weekly review of reports, the MHProNews analysis that follows MHARR’s report on the impact on our profession of the first round of Biden Regime EOs includes a unique look at this next question.
Why is an “impeachment” being used when President Trump is already “out” of office? Then, how does that maneuver potentially relate to our profession or that of others?
Keep in mind that one of the purposes of an “impeachment” is precisely removal from office. Certainly, there are obvious political implications of the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, Senator Mazie Hirono (HI-D) said one goal is to keep President Trump from running for office ever again. As Senator Hirono told Don Lemon on left-of-center CNN, “And so, yes, we need to decide whether the president, in fact, incited an insurrection on another branch of government,” Senator Hirono added. “And I say that has what happened. That is impeachable. The second part that’s important, Don, is to prevent the president from ever holding public office again.”
That topic Senator Hirono and others have raised is explored in a unique MHLivingNews look linked below at famous manufactured homeowner, Kid Rock, who weighed in on the post-election controversies.
The fact that the breach of the Capitol occurred before those who listened to President Trump on January 6 is telling and widely known for those with a desire to see facts vs. spin. The fact that CBS News and others reported that there were pre-January 6 warnings that some sort of action might occur at the Capitol, and that BLM and Antifa actors are among those who have been arrested and/or identified in the Capitol Breach is telling too.
As important as those evidence-based points are to the defense of President Trump’s “impeachment” trial – which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY-D) announced would begin on February 8, 2021 – is there something else afoot in this pending national legal matter?
The short answer? Possibly. Trump attorneys and a law professor have been asked by MHProNews to examine that question. It may be worth a few minutes of your time to look too. Once more for emphasis, that is the bulk of our analysis that follows the MHARR report on the impact of Biden-EOs, linked further below in the Daily Business News segment of today’s weekly headlines review.
GroupThink vs Independent Thought
Faith and religious belief can be a unifying force.
That noted, while there may be a wide range of agreement on a range of spiritual issues, the reason there are divisions among believers in Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, or Christianity – to name but a few of the larger religions known in America or internationally – is precisely because “We the People” have our own minds. We each have the God-given gift of free will. Bad things happen because all people have been given the gift of free will. How we individually use that free will is what sets us apart.
One reason slavery in America or other nations around the world ended is because slavery was challenged for years on end by people of good will. That battle to end slavery took time. But it ultimately succeeded in the U.S. and in other nations too.
Political parties exist in part because different people – sometimes with good will, sometimes not – see matters differently.
There can be a good aspect to seeing things differently. Dr. Stephen Covey in his famous book, the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People has this potent and insightful line. “Good! You see it differently!”
A useful illustration that may help open otherwise closed mind is this graphic which Covey used.
Ando Gedo – a partner in MHI member ManageAmerica, graciously and keenly noted the following during a public online debate. Gedo tipped his virtual hat in MHProNews’ direction by saying that an industry as consolidated as ours is needs contrarians. While disagreeing on some points with our publication, in his own words, he applauded the notion that someone in our profession – i.e. MHProNews – would publicly take a reasoned and principled stance that was contrary to the GroupThink.
There are record mainstream housing sales, as one of our headline reports linked below details.
When conventional housing is roaring, why are affordable manufactured homes sales still snoring?
Hold that thought, because that will continued to be explored in reports below. But it will be one of the new, fresh, and developing upcoming third-party research study. You can learn more about that developing research study right here at MHProNews.
Monopolization and Consolidation, USA
Much of America is consolidating, not just more affordable and wildly misunderstood manufactured housing. We have friends and folks in professions ranging from medicine, media, mechanical, or maintenance work. They, and numerous others, have seen and reported on steady consolidation in their respective fields too.
Out of the literally millions of independently owned businesses in the U.S., a relatively small number of powerful firms are flexing their muscles so publicly that all with the eyes and prudence to see can witness what is happening in near-real time.
When an independent firm supposedly worth a billion dollars can get shut down by a few powerful insiders, that should send shock waves through every independent in our profession and all others.
If you are an independent, or employed by one, such a case should give sobering pause.
The fact that the apparent co-conspirators in the public mugging of Parler have given an excuse for doing what they did to Twitter competitor Parler is a coy fig leaf.
That fig leaf is meant as political and other cover, to appeal to the base who supported the Biden-Harris ticket. That fig leaf from Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon are not the main subject of the report linked below in our Sunday headline recap about their founders Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Jeff Bezos. That report includes our profession’s periodic look at Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, George Soros and others.
That Saturday report about the billionaires and their machinations covers a different topic that no one else in publishing in our profession is known to have publicly addressed.
MHProNews has been sounding the alarm on the trend toward oligopoly or monopolization for several years. Not only because it harms our profession’s independents. But also because current or potential consumers and manufactured homeowners are likewise harmed. It is arguably bad public policy for the nation at large, for the businesses and their millions of actual or potential employees.
For those willfully blind, they can not be helped until they too are willing to see. The topics we periodically cover are classic in this sense. They get to core issues about human nature and how various parties seek to manipulate or influence the weaknesses of our common humanity.
That is the nature of humanity’s free will. Illustrations like that young/old woman above may or may not help someone to grasp the idea that even a common thought may be errant, or at a minimum, subject to some other valid interpretation.
Thus, Gedo’s point was quite correct. There are possible good things or good impacts from a principled opposition and contrarian thinking vs. groupthink.
Our profession has witnessed literally thousands of independents that were previously successful sold out or failed in the last 20 years. Dozens of once vibrant independent producers of HUD Code manufactured homes are also gone. Yet, affordable housing is always needed. These troubling facts are matters that MHI, despite their claim to represent “all segments” of manufactured homes and factory built housing belies.
Today, we still have an affordable housing crisis. The NAR and NAHB are among those who say so. Thus, the obvious question. How is that possible? How can manufactured housing be struggling during a time when affordable housing is more needed now than even a year or two ago?
Day-by-day, report-by-report, we shed a light on such questions.
Clearly there is evidence that the industry’s larger firm leadership does not want such topics explored, or they too would be addressing it publicly.
Instead, the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and their puppet masters keep peddling the same old bilge. They keep patting each other’s backs. They keep giving each other awards. In doing so, they are also counting their money all the way to the bank as they consolidate the industry one or more locations at a time. Mindful of the lessons of history and Buffett’s quip’s above, do the powers that be count on a blend of habit, fear, and groupthink to keep the independents in line?
Do they count on manufactured housing professionals to be what Buffett called “lemmings?” Mere followers of Berkshire- and their allies-backed MHI that lead independents off the proverbial cliff?
You and others must each answer such questions. As the millions get their EBT and electronic diversions, as the American Republic seems to be following a trajectory like ancient Rome, evidence on national and industry topics should inform our minds and thus help guide our emotions. That in turn should help us each plan and act intelligently.
Again, because it is so important to our Republic, please see the unique analysis on why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) and Majority Leader Schumer (NY-D) are advancing an “impeachment” when it is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. sleeping with his wife Jill in the president’s quarters and when “lunch bucket Joe” with multiple mansions – earned how on his modest salary? – is the one occupying the Oval office. That analysis is among the reports about the Biden EO impacts found among the Daily Business News on MHProNews reports linked below.
Programming Notices. The parent company to MHProNews is planning to launch new websites in the weeks ahead. More on that when the launch approaches.
As another notice, MHProNews has in hand a document prepared by as a legal research paper that explored the evidence of antitrust (anti-monopoly) and other purported legal concerns involving Clayton Homes and related Berkshire Hathaway owned brands. Stay tuned as the plan to publish that report was delayed by evolving national events. It may be published in February, but that exclusive MHProNews report should be coming soon.
Other exclusive reports are also approaching. One will be an epic probe into the placement issue.
Given the ongoing evidence of the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI) apparent failure at getting good existing federal laws enforced, that looming deep dive could be a useful foundation for researchers, independent industry professionals, and affordable housing seekers alike.
Several of these topics should prove useful for engaging members of Congress, others public officials, and the Biden-Harris regime.
Do not miss the postscript and “Now is the Time for All Good Men to Come to the Aid of their Country.”
With no further adieu, let us now pivot toward the headlines from the week that was, 1.17.2021 to 1.24.2021.
What is new on MHLivingNews
What is new in Washington, D.C. from MHARR
What is new on the Masthead
The reports for the week on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 1.23.2021
Friday 1.22.2021
Thursday 1.21.2021
Wednesday 1.20.2021
Tuesday 1.19.2021
Monday 1.18.2021
Sunday 1.17.2021
Postscript
“Now is the Time for All Good Men to Come to the Aid of their Country.” That phrase has been attributed to Patrick Henry, though some dispute that claim. That phrase was used by pre-internet typing teachers to drill their students on for decades. This writer was one of those so drilled on that phrase.
Our typing teacher was a woman. But she did not find that to be a ‘sexist’ proclamation. One reason, perhaps, is because the word ‘men’ can be taken in the same sense as humans, just as the term ‘you guys’ can be applied to men or women.
The battles involving concerns regarding issues such as:
- monopolization,
- big tech,
- and pro-socialist,
- failures within our profession arguably caused by purported monopolistic-minded firms,
- legal, conflicts of interest, and other exclusive reporting claims involving manufactured housing professionals, consumers, and potential consumers,
- the influences of social and cultural trends,
- constitutional, legal, and other issues
are among the most-enduring reports found on MHProNews and our MHLivingNews sister site.
Some of those reports attract significant and at times serious surges in readership months or even years after they were first published. Depending on national topics, one or more of our older reports may witness large upticks in engagement by readers in the U.S. or even abroad. It is part of what makes us the runaway most-read trade publication in our industry.
That evidence-based tease noted (because data from Webalizer or other third-party metrics makes such facts clear), it sheds light on why MHI may have a total void on their publicly-available information. To compare and contrast, when the smaller, but arguably more open and straightforward, Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) sends out an emailed item to their readers, they also publish that publicly on their ever-growing website. By comparison, MHI sends out emails to their members, affiliates, and other readers. Why do those routinely NOT get publicly published on their website? Are they afraid someone may look back weeks, months, or years later? Are they afraid that they could thus be exposed as posturing frauds who work to consolidate the industry on behalf of a select number of favored firms that often have deeper pockets?
“Deception and Misdirection” is a common theme at the evidence-based Capital Research Center (CRC) , and it is here on MHProNews too.
Another possible phrase for Deception and Misdirection is “a con game” or “a con job.” Paltering, mendacity, and phony posturing are not just reserved for Washington, D.C. That is not something that may occur at an international, USA, state, or local corporate and political levels. The fact that evidence presented that reflects against Clayton, their affiliates, their parent company, and their purported puppet nonprofits such as MHI are not debated publicly is just a reminder that once a con job begins, the mantra of the con artist proves amazingly accurate and insightful. “Never give up the con,” might have been one of the keener one-liner insights by best-selling author and documentary film maker Dinesh D’Souza.
The classic fictional movie, “The Sting” provided a look at how that works for grifters. “Chasing Bernie Madoff” revealed how a massive multiple-billion-dollar-con job occurred in real life. So why is it hard for some to admit that such a con is and has been occurring in manufactured housing? The manufactured home industry, and the nation itself, has arguably been undermined from within. Who benefits? Often, the harm has gone to independents and their employees. Often the benefit has gone to billionaires, who worked hard and with allies spent billions to ‘defeat’ President Trump. Connect the dots?
The closing of Parler was meant to send fear into untold numbers of professionals. But as the Rev. Larry Richards has said, depending on the version of Scripture you have, there are about 365 times that the phrase “Be not afraid” is found.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, · Nor have entered into the heart of man · The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV. Onward…
Our thanks to you, our sources, and sponsors for making and keeping us the runaway number one source 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 MHProNews.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.
