50 years ago, on July 20, 1969, President John F. Kennedy’s vision for putting an American on the moon was fulfilled. It was in a sense a great competition between the United States of America (USA) and the now defunct Soviet Union. Kennedy’s life was tragically snuffed out by an assassin’s kill shot years prior to this event, preventing him from witnessing what much of the world watched in amazement.
There are some parallels between POTUS Jack Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan we’ve mentioned before. Tax cuts that spurred economic growth were among them. But the two came from either side of the left-right Democratic and Republican major party aisles. It is worth mentioning that in my youth, my parents were Kennedy Democrats who became Reagan Republicans. One might wonder if John Kennedy, had he lived, would he have drifted as far left as his brother Senator Ted Kennedy did?
What was overlooked and covered up in the Kennedy era – womanizing – is held over the head of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. We believe in facts and evidence here. Accuracy, reason, and the truth matter. What Kennedy and former Democrat Reagan did on the federal tax rate is what POTUS Donald J. Trump managed to get passed in Congress in late 2017. Each time a federal tax cut has been properly tried, it has routinely succeeded in boosting the economy, job creation, and more. So given the track record, why is it vilified now, when it was celebrated over 5 decades ago?
Housing – the Lunar Landing, Then and to Come
As a kid about the age of our 12 year old son, like millions of others, we watched mesmerized at that one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
But there are still conspiracy theories that man never went to the moon at all. It was, per some theorists, done mostly on a movie set. Never mind the fact that Russian radar could track the Apollo 11 spacecraft just as well as America’s could. Logic doesn’t bother the true believer in a fantasy.
Those conspiracy theories are often captivated by a belief in a ‘deep fake.’ In fairness, it is worth believing in the possibility of slight of hands, as throughout the centuries, people have been subjected to and subverted by all kinds of deception.
But not every event is a hoax or conspiracy.
The White House press room sent this today as part of a longer release.
“President Donald J. Trump has committed to putting Americans back on the Moon by 2024, establishing a human presence there by 2028, and charting a path for the eventual exploration of Mars from there.”
Among the possible options or plans for housing on the moon or Mars is 3D printing. There are other options, but that one certainly has some factors that favor it. What we don’t expect is HUD Code manufactured homes on either heavenly body any time soon. Let’s clarify that, we never expect a HUD Code home on the moon. What works on planet Earth would not on the lunar surface or on planet Mars.
That said, manufactured housing sounds too good to be true to millions of people today for a variety of reasons. A sometimes skeptical people need evidence. Given reports like this one, can you blame them?
When someone is doubting the veracity of a salesperson, you wouldn’t likely see that skeptic turn to the sales manager for the desired proof. Third parties are far more useful for that verification of a claim.
Furthermore, if a source has proven time and again to be false, or misleading, then skeptical minds grow in their doubt.
Those are among the reasons why the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) can’t be the leader of the industry’s come back. There have been far too many head fakes.
MHI is doubted by resident groups and leaders, perhaps understandably so. What is a bit surprising is that some independents within manufactured housing still trust MHI. While MHI loves to do photo ops with political leaders, having spoken with staffers, we hear that they have a reputation for being anti-consumer. Ouch, but given stories like this one highlighted by Democratic presidential contenders, can you blame them?
That said, 5 years ago, this writer was among those who did ‘trust’ MHI, even though we disagreed on several issues. I sat on an MHI board, elected by my peers. MHI leaders cheered much of what we did, in writing and on camera. They did so even though we were known from time to time to hold a different view, often the position held by MHI rival MHARR, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform.
We made no secret that on some issues we held MHI’s position, sometimes MHARR‘s, and sometimes, we held our own distinct view. All in the mix, then and now, knew that to be true. People like then MHI Chairman Tim Williams, MHI’s president, and others praised our work – arguably because they knew that getting our support on a position had meaning. We were not MHI toadies or sycophants, as years of articles during that timeframe reveal. Indeed, one could argue that their maneuvers were due in part to the fact that we were independent in thought.
For good or ill, MHI went to considerable lengths to influence this writer. Perhaps their reasoning is found in the paragraph above. We had the largest audience, then and now. We thought independently. Our tag line “We Provide, You Decide,” © was born in part due to our willingness to share the viewpoints of various voices within the industry.
With good will, but naively, we thought and sought to bring the parties together. That didn’t work. But the photo below was supposed to symbolize that effort. This writer arranged for and took that photo.
We began this platform when there was a dearth of trade media in MHVille. By contrast today, there are now several trade publishers or bloggers, almost all of whom are supported by MHI, save this one. Those others provide almost no content that presently is obviously contrary to the MHI viewpoint. Only one periodical shares content from MHARR. We alone share what MHARR does and have done so for years. We used to share everything from MHI, until they insisted – using a threatening letter from their attorney, that we stop doing so. Other threats from MHI have come via inside or outside counsel. At first, their reasoning was a mystery. In hindsight, it is no longer obscure. That begged the question, why did they want us to stop doing what we did for years? But they didn’t explain.
That said, as we matured as a publisher and did some research of our own, we found the ideal way to showcase MHI’s perspective despite their insistence that we not do so. It is called fair use, which when used by news media within set guidelines, is lawful. When MHI’s outside counsel threatened us anew, we hit back with the facts and published it. There was also a lawful shot across the bow of their outside attorney, who has since that time been pretty quiet himself. Interesting…?
But all of that begs questions.
· Why did MHI undermine our pro-manufactured home industry growth efforts in the first place?
· Why did key people with MHI – per several sources – encourage our advertisers to do so no more? After all MHI, Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corp were among those that not only advertised here, but praised us in the process.
· Why did MHI provide support and encouragement for our rival publications?
· Keep in mind they did much, but not all, of that during the time we were publicly supporting them on the logic for Preserving Access – why undermine a supporter? One whom they had publicly praised for years?
· In hindsight, we now see Preserving Access differently. The logic for the bill remained, but the bill was never designed to pass into law, as we outlined in “Rope-a-Dope” and elsewhere.
Moon Walks and Conspiracy Theories
Yes, conspiracy theories aside, man has walked on the moon. That one small step for man, that one giant leap for mankind took place 50 years ago today.
But what is demonstrably based upon evidence, stands close scrutiny of logic, stands unrefuted by those we’ve called into question is that MHI postures efforts without delivering effective results.
Texas, Florida Cities Plan Manufactured Home Ban, Legacy Housing, FMHA, Lance Inderman/Jessup Housing React | Manufactured and Modular Housing Industry News
In Parker, Florida, My Panhandle reports that ” a revised mobile home ordinance was introduced. The ordinance doesn’t allow for the expansion of mobile home parks, mobile homes in residential areas, and restricts how many mobile homes can come into a park.
MHI and their backers and puppets response has arguably been modern variations on what was called the Big Lie in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Repeat a lie boldly and confidently enough often enough, and the lie will be believed by many.
Create an echo chamber of supporters – for example, those new publishers here and here, plus a blogger linked here – and put out your own propaganda, have much of it jibe, and an illusion of honesty exists that helps mask the deceptions. Those MHI toadies and bootlickers are arguably part of the big lie.
Our much needed industry is in perhaps in one of its most dangerous phases ever, but mainly for those who are independents. If you are an insider, you are reasonable safe for now. If you are an outsider, you are at risk.
For that reason, some companies are MHI members – not out of belief in what they say or do, but rather out of a mix of motivations that on several levels may be immoral and/or illegal. More on that in an upcoming report on the Daily Business News on MHProNews.
Unlocking Potential, Step by Step
But for today, let’s wrap up that headline in this fashion. To unlock the potential for manufactured housing, one must understand why that potential has been/or is being thwarted. Understanding is the first step in that process.
The next step is to realize that there is a life-and-death – in a business sense, anyway – struggle for manufactured housing. Enhanced Preemption, other aspects of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (MHIA) of 2000, the Duty to Serve manufactured housing, several good laws already on the books ought to make HUD Code manufactured housing soar.
But instead, it is snoring. That fact, during an affordable housing crisis, with a product that has proven itself for decades successfully, borders on magic. While MHARR has done yeoman’s work for decades, stubbornly citing facts at each step – something the deserve great credit for – no trade publisher has even come close to unlocking the realities of the industry versus the illusion being painted by others.
‘Trailers for Sale or Rent’ – Build to Rent Trend, Manufactured Homes and Communities
People are entitled to their own opinions. But no one is entitled to make up their own facts. That’s a paraphrase of an insight from Daniel Patrick Moynihan which ought to be routinely applied to this industry’s opportunities and woes, and to every other area of living. Facts matter more than mere opinion.
The moon walk that occurred 50 years ago today could be successfully mimicked NOW with a variety of special effects. But then? Pretty tough to pull off with primitive technology, especially when the Soviets or others who had the tech necessary would have gladly called ‘fake’ had it been a mere posturing of a rocket launch, journey to the moon, and lunar landing. We also can’t forget that Apollo 13 ended in disaster, which made what happened with Apollo 11 all the more heroic.
Given enough time, information, attention to detail, and objectivity – one can confirm or debunk many a conspiracy theory. What MHI and their big boys are doing is being confirmed day by day, not debunked. If the Omaha-Knoxville-Arlington axis could debunk it, they would gladly do so. Lord knows, they’ve tried in their own ways.
Instead, there are a variety of probes, per sources, underway in Washington that tend to confirm our evidence-based conclusions. The video from Knoxville media is but one example of several that could be provided.
Far more is found at this link below.
If man can walk on the moon – and we did – then people of good will can defeat the treachery that has arguably occurred as outlined and linked from herein. Healthy competition for MHI is much needed. More to come. Thanks for making and keeping us number one.
Closing Disclaimer: We’ve not done deep research on the moon walk, but for reasons noted above, believe that it occurred. That said, the photo collage at the top of this article is a deep fake. Can you spot what isn’t real on the right side of the image? “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Industry news, commentary, fact-checks, and analysis.)
(See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them. Third-party images and content are provided under fair use guidelines.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned the Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma. He has earned multiple awards in manufactured housing and in history. He’s a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
Office 863-213-4090 |Connect on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
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Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which an be accessed by clicking on them.
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/manufactured-housing-survey-u-s-census-bureau-2014-2019-pricing-product-mix/
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/manufactured-housing-production-and-shipments-official-hud-data-report-for-may-2019/
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/shocking-true-state-of-the-manufactured-housing-industry-plus-solutions-for-profitable-sustainable-growth-may-2019/
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/census-hud-official-residential-construction-report-for-april-2019-dare-to-compare-to-manufactured-housing-data/
https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/joe-stegmayer-george-f-allen-manufactured-housing-institute-slogans-slump-slurs-solutions/
