All too often, politics in our country simply seems frustrating. I routinely meet people – in and out of our industry – who feel that what happens in DC, state or local politics is simply beyond their ability to influence. So they tune it all out. On the other end of the spectrum are those who are in the trenches of politics. In manufactured housing, souls like DJ Pendleton, Jen Hall or dozens of their association peers come to mind; plus business pros like Nathan Smith, who can cross the aisle to work with anyone.
I feel gratitude towards those who do it and empathy for those frustrated.
Let's take a short odyssey on this timely MH related topic, and see the amazing places it will lead us…
This quote I read weeks ago has been on my mind:
"For several days now, I have been captured by this sentence. "The forces that change history are the same as those that change man's heart."" – Geri Benoit, Haitian Ambassador to Italy.
There is a powerful truth here! Truth is indeed useful, but often it is the forces that change a person's heart that drive history, be it for good or ill.
The unspeakable horrors that occurred in:
- Nazi Germany,
- Lenin and Stalin's Russia,
- Pol Pott's Cambodia and
- the slaughter of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda
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are a handful of numerous past or present examples where the evil that drove the hearts of a few narcissistic 'leaders' ended up taking root in many. In turn, that lead to genocides we find difficult to imagine.
Sometimes indifference or a lack of engagement has a frightfully high cost.
But those historic macro events take place on a micro level too. Ariel Castro's alleged decade of horrors against those kidnapped women in Ohio can be seen as a case in point.
Such deeds are too horrible for many to accept, so it may seem easier to tune it out. For many it comes down to the rhetorical canard, what can one person do?
Yet ironically each example above started with one person who – wrongly or rightly – inspired others. So it is precisely when the one won't act for the good, when too many tune out and ignore evil or wrongdoing, that we end up with more horrors!
I control me. You control yourself. Edmund Burke said it well:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is when good men do nothing."
In every one of the national horrors mentioned above, a tipping point was reached. That tipping point occurred when enough people allowed their minds and hearts to be changed for ill and so they facilitated or took part in the horrors that followed.
The reverse was also true; that not enough good people stood up and acted to stop it.
Madder then Hell
Anger is not always a negative emotion. There is such a thing as righteous anger! Just as one self-absorbed person's tainted heart can lead millions down a road to a living hell, so too one person's pure heart can lead others through the chaos of indifference or evil to do good.
Consider the following:
"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." – Arnold Bennett
Or:
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort. " – Theodore Roosevelt
Consider Moses, Jesus of Nazareth, Joan of Arc, George Washington, Ghandi, or Martin Luther King, Jr. as some of the many historic examples of how a single person could lead or inspire others to changes for the better. Many different people and styles, but their personal commitment and leadership made the difference.
Let's also cite innovators or entrepreneurs like Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Helen Blanchard, Henry Ford, Dr. Grace Hopper, Bill Gates, Dr. Patricia Bath or Steve Jobs who influenced the world! They do so even if their names remain unknown to millions whose lives their work touched.
We can be tempted – inspired! – to good, just as one can be tempted to do or ignore evil.
Part of what sets these various leaders apart is a quality we could sum up as "never, ever quit." None of those named, good or ill, were quitters!
So if the cause is just – and manufactured housing is a good cause – just don't give up!
Thomas Edison became famous for his 10,000 failed efforts to invent the light bulb, before his breakthrough success.
Think about the drama/comic classic movie, Network, where a fictional anchorman inspires millions to get madder than hell, and just not 'take it' any more!
Sometimes we need a righteous anger in order to effect positive change.
There are times we need to make an irrevocable decision to not quit – to not give in – until a just cause is accomplished.
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Winston Churchill lead an England that seemed isolated and alone against a Nazi war machine that had swept the armies of Western Europe and Poland aside with relative ease. It must have seemed hopeless to the Brits. Yet, as the bombs dropped during the arial blitz of London – as thousands died when houses, buildings and churches collapsed – Churchill famously said:
"Never, never, never, never give up!"
We all know who prevailed. One person helped inspire a nation. The Bristish never quit and won.
Or ponder this gem:
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
– Winston Churchill
The Manufactured Housing Phenomenon
Ladies and gentlemen, MH pro Ron Thomas Sr. is correct in saying that the manufactured home industry is nothing short of a phenomenon!
Manufactured housing is misunderstood. It is dismissed and besmirched. But MH refuses to die because it is such an incredible value that even indifference, ignorance, sloth or just plain foolishness isn't enough to kill it!
For some, their work in this industry is just a job, or just another investment. I get that.
But some like Mike Evans, Randy Rowe, Sam Landy or other leaders we've interviewed correctly see our industry as nothing short of amazing!
I listened in Las Vegas last month to Stacey Epperson tell me and Howard Banker – Executive Director of the Fair Mortgage Collaborative – how she went from hating manufactured housing, because she was blind to its true worth, to becoming just as passionately for it.
Epperson was a stick builder! Now as the CEO of NextStep, Epperson sees and promotes the incredible value of manufactured housing! I've asked her to share her story, which I hope will happen in the days ahead.
For some, a manufactured home is just another roof over their heads.
But for others, a manufactured home is a dream come true! Starting back in 1981, I've met, worked with and sold thousands who loved their manufactured homes. I've managed land lease communities where many residents could not have been more pleased with their homes. We work routinely with pros who are clients in retail, communities, lending and other phases of manufactured housing. So I can tell you first hand…
Manufactured housing is indeed a phenomenon!
To be able to sell a durable, eco-friendly home for 25% less than conventional construction is simply amazing.
In the part of the upper Midwest where we live, a new residential style manufactured home with finished drywall may cost 40% +/- less than a similar sized new conventionally built house. An entry level home with VOG walls may cost 50% +/- or less than on site construction.
Manufactured housing is amazing. It is a phenomenon. We're part of a phenomenon.
We are the answer to America's looming affordable housing crisis. That means for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, that we have an incredible opportunity hidden in the affordable housing crisis.
To tap our potential, we should take two immediate steps.
1) We must rouse ourselves – and others – to get HR 1779 passed into law.
2) We must define ourselves and not let others falsely define us! So we must rouse ourselves to stand up to and call upon those ignorant (or whatever…) who de facto slur us. Let's begin with the Princeton WordNet project, calling upon them to change their insulting definition of our incredible homes. It harms their image and ours to have such an error filled 'definition' of our homes so prominently online. Please see the link above.
We must become manufactured housing evangelists!
The antidote to frustration is action. The antidote to indifference is passion!
There is a reward waiting for those who do so. In fact, millions will be benefited when we personally do what it takes and never, never, never, never give up!
Combine knowledge with passion. Because:
"The forces that change history are the same as those that change man's heart."
– Geri Benoit.
Together, we can do these two steps above and make a little history. Please follow those two links above. Just do it.
Then, ask your co-workers, family and friends to do the same. Don't give up. The antidote to frustration is positive action! Millions will benefit – and there will be gratitude! – towards those who do, thank you. ##
Photo credits:
Rwandan genocide skulls: WikiCommons
Edison's light bulb: WikiCommons
Winston Churchill: WikiCommons
Geri Benoit: AVSI.org
PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for May and see the
other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.
L. A. "Tony" Kovach
MHLivingNews.com=Re-Discovering and Spotlighting the MHLifeStyle
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latonyk@gmail.com or tony@mhmsm.com
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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right. – Henry Ford
