Pragmatism is not only a good thing, it can be a necessity for anyone or any group that seeks to do something other than posture.
Reality and legalities are ideally connected to the pragmatic.
On MHProNews and MHLivingNews, we have long argued for bipartisan or nonpartisan approaches to issues that are based upon facts, evidence, historic insights, and a goal of mutual victories.
Affordable housing is as needed as ever, perhaps more so. So that could potentially be hopeful for our industry. The chart below tells at-a-glance why more affordable housing is needed. But that potential will not be actualized unless reality, legality and pragmatic thinking are deployed.
Our industry could hold the key to making that trend line above far better. Because what thinking people in both major parties have long agreed upon is that affordable manufactured homes are part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Bipartisanship does not mean giving up ones beliefs. We editorially publicly supported President Donald J. Trump and based upon the choices offered, would gladly do so again. There is evidence that President Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. That said, for whatever reason, the 45th President did not – at least not yet – avail himself of a Quo Warranto challenge.
- Right or wrong, it is Mr. Joe Biden who sleeps in the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC – zip code 20003.
- Democrats are in charge of the Congress.
- Democrats are making appointments to various federal agencies.
- The Supreme Court passed rather than take up any serious legal election challenges.
- Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, united behind President Trump.
- Democrats are publicly behind Joe Biden, but with certain concerns and qualifications.
- Former Senator Kamala Harris (CA-D) stands waiting in the wings if Biden, for any reason, steps down or is pushed out by the powers that be behind the presidential throne.
Those powers that be are increasingly easy to identify. They are the billionaires, corporate powers, big media, big tech, allied nonprofits, and thousands of their allies and surrogates that arguably placed the Biden-Harris team in charge. That is per sources like the interesting Molly Ball and the Time election analysis.
How these and other dynamics may play out will be revealed in due course.
When Democratic-supporting liberals are questioning the billionaire-tech-media-political power structure, why shouldn’t others?
Kennedy Democrats…Questioning Official Narratives
It is self-proclaimed lifelong Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr) who has publicly questioned for some years the official narratives related to two murders he knows from firsthand experience as well as intellectual insights. RFK Jr has publicly questioned if the CIA – Central Intelligence Agency – was involved in the assassination of his late uncle, President John F. “Jack” Kennedy. Kennedy isn’t alone.
It is RFK Jr. who has questioned the motives and plans of the billionaires who he and other educated voices from among liberals and Democrats have are creating a new feudal society in America.
Do all Democrats buy into a militarized Washington, D.C.? One must hope not.
Do all Democrats believe in the reversal of the Trump Administration accomplishments on border control? On or the roaring pre-COVID19 economy that was lifting incomes and the opportunities of minorities and whites alike? Look at the rise in home ownership in the graph above, or the rise in incomes reported by CNN, the Washington Post, or Fox Business – among others – as is exemplified below.
Facts matter. When Democrats and Republicans work together, that does not mean that facts, evidence, or reason should be set aside. Each can bring something to the table.
The problem with labels and prejudice is that it harms each party or group involved. I know people who dislike or distrust Jews or Catholics. While there may be some members of any group that merit distrust, that is no reason to lump or treat an entire category of millions to over a billion with uniform disdain.
For instance. My family recently had dinner with an African priest. During dinner the conversation, he mentioned how admirable the discipline and devotion of millions of Muslims can be. He gave specific examples. He clearly had thought about what he was sharing.
What made his observations about believers in Islam all the more penetrating is this. That priest comes from a part of Africa where Muslim radicals are persecuting Catholics and other Christians. While he was not condoning that behavior of the few, he would not because of the few condemn the many who he sincerely believes have good qualities.
The possible takeaway is that there is routinely good to be found in the other.
That noted, ponder this reality. Finding that good and working with the other does not require ignoring your own beliefs. It can be good to challenge your own perceptions. The value of the scientific method, in principle, is that it reviews beliefs based upon emerging or new insights and information.
The same principle is considered as a given for many in business. For example. If your business is doing okay, and you see something that could be improved, a change is made. Indeed, that is part of the point of networking with peers. In any authentic encounter – as opposed to a contrived or manipulative encounter – there is an opportunity to see things in a new way that may lead to a better outcome. That ability to learn from others with a differing point of view is captured by best-selling author Stephen Covey’s potent insights shown below.
Good! You see it differently! The late Covey, a Mormon, pulled thoughts from a range of thinkers well beyond that of his own religious beliefs.
An open mind should close on demonstrable truth.
In mathematics or accounting, one and one is two. One and one will always be two. If someone comes along and says, ‘no, one and one is 5,’ it may be okay to hear that person out. But they should also be presumed to be in error. The burden of proof lies with those who those who challenge a long-held and demonstrably successful practice, fact, or belief.
An ‘open mind’ that is uncritical in testing a claim can be manipulated if someone is not cautious. Some examples will be shown further below.
In seeking common ground between obvious rivals, that does not mean that one must surrender to the apparently ascendant group.
A manufactured home specific example may illustrate for longer term industry professionals.
- Going along to for the mere sake of ‘getting along’ is an absurd and self-defeating view!
- Just look at the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) pattern of behavior for over a decade and their would-be apologists. Note that here an “apologist” is a term rooted in a Latin word that can mean a defender.
- Defenders or apologists for MHI should ponder this simple question. What has 12+ to 20+ years of whatever you want to label or call the MHI strategy yielded?
- The manufactured home industry has good laws that are not being enforced! That has been true under both Democratic and Republican administrations!
- Who benefits from that trend of behavior by MHI in what we have dubbed the Berkshire Hathaway era of the industry? Who is harmed by that trend that has existed since Berkshire Hathaway’s entry into manufactured housing?
By contrast to MHI, there is the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR). As underdogs who have significantly fewer dollars, staff, etc. – give me the MHARR ‘better to fight than switch’ stance every time. They have at various times accomplished things by pressing facts and evidence that MHI’s ‘strategy’ has clearly not yielded a better outcome.
One point or takeaway? Pragmatism is not at odds with still picking strategic battles and using jiujitsu!
Lessons from Science and the Scientific Method
Scientists, engineers, and medical doctors collaborated:
- to put man on the moon. That has occurred several times.
- Scientists’ and engineers made spacecraft that landed safely on Mars and then deployed land rovers to send back video or still images.
- But scientists and medical experts have been utterly unable to create even the most basic single cell life form where it did not previously exist. The Greek philosopher Parmenides about five centuries before Christ were smart enough to deduce that “From nothing, nothing comes.” To clarify the meaning, Webster’s dictionary paraphrases that by saying that “from nothing nothing is produced.”
- It seems that the ancient truth held my several world religions that an almighty Creator that is pure unchanging Spirit created all things is the best explanation for our existence. Because from nothing, nothing is produced.
That does not negate the value of the big bang theory. God could use whatever method the Creator desired to bring all things into existence. There is reasonable evidence from science that could support the big bang. But neither the big bang, nor the theory of evolution, replaces the necessity for an all powerful Creator.
It seems self-evident that there is no record of any human woman ever giving birth to a fish, a dog, cat, squirrel, bird, bear, kangaroo, or any other living creature than another human. That scientific, medical, and historical points noted, why would some argue or pass laws to protect the life of an unborn endangered species but not equally support protecting the life of an unborn person?
When abortions disproportionately impact women and minorities, and given that the founder of Planned Parenthood was a well-known racist – Margret Sanger – it strikes me as odd that more people who champion minority rights are not also pro-life?
At a minimum starting place, can’t those who embrace ‘pro-choice’ views admit that pro-life supporters and they are discussing the fate of the lives of baby humans? Isn’t a baby human what the science and medicine objectively reveal that what is conceived when a man and woman have mated and conceived?
That some deny something so obvious is troubling. Beyond the science and common sense, millennia of global faith teachings instructs humanity that an unborn baby is human. One example makes the point.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5 (New American Standard (NAS) version). God had a plan for Jeremiah, but also for each soul that is conceived, long before a male or female soul was conceived.
That noted, people of deeply held faith need to push back against many of the acts and proposals of the majority party that are pending. After all, the founding principles of America as expressed in the Declaration of Independence said as follows. The italics are added for emphasis. Here ‘men’ means humans, a common usage at that time.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
The government does not exist to take away rights. Rather, government and laws exist to protect life and rights.
Properly understanding modern realities could give savvy affordable manufactured home industry independents more potential negotiating powers, not less.
Trump supporters do not have to ignore their election concerns. They merit objective investigation. Democrats pressed for 2016 election investigations, and Republicans have every right to press for the same in 2020. Democrats should not be afraid of that objective investigation if they sincerely believe that they ‘won’ the 2020 election.
Mutual respect and the defense of human rights are precisely what law is supposed to protect.
Here are Areas of Possible Mutual Benefit
Democrats have said that they are for a vigorous enforcement of antitrust law. Perfect. Democrats have said that the wealthy are too powerful. On the Masthead, we editorially agree and have for years. During the 2020 election cycle, we pointed out several times that Democrat stressed the need for antitrust enforcement. Bravo – but now that they are in power, this is the time for them bring it.
Democrats say that minority rights to home ownership should be defended and advanced. Absolutely. Quite so.
As political independents, the Masthead would observe that many Republicans before Trump were all in for free trade, which arguably harmed the interests of American workers. Many Republicans before Trump defended capitalists without closely examining the distinction between free enterprise and crony capitalism.
Put differently, it is obvious that while there are differences, neither major party is perfect. That is no surprise. The point is that there is good to be found from Trump Republicans and sincere antitrust Democrats who want to remove barriers for more affordable housing.
There are going to be distinct differences. But there are possible opportunities for common ground. Democrats and Republicans alike have said that the system is rigged.
- Then when not challenge elected officials to work together to unrig the system?
- Why not push for serious antitrust or other lawful examples that could benefit millions?
Pragmatism suggests that such is the path the industry’s savvy independents should pursue. Because my eighty percent friend, said Democrat turned Republican Ronald Reagan, is not my twenty percent enemy.
The laws that manufactured housing wants enforced where passed with widely bipartisan support. It would seem like common sense that industry independents should push for the full and proper enforcement of those laws. To learn more how this can be pragmatically explored, see the detailed and related Daily Business News report linked above.
When President Trump was in office, MHProNews repeatedly called for the removal of Bryan Montgomery at HUD for evidence of purported conflicts of interest. With Biden-Harris in the White House, doesn’t it make sense to probe the obvious problems that prominent billionaires have arguably caused in America and our necessary profession?
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Again, to learn more on the related and recent topics, see the links above and below. Until next time, that’s a wrap on this installment of “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
Recent and Related Reports:
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