While known by tens of millions, the most influential Jew in world history isn’t Bernie Sanders. It isn’t billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It isn’t liberal icon George Soros. It wasn’t even the wealthy and politically powerful Mayer Amschel Rothschild or his progeny.
The most influential Jew ever was a poor itinerant worker in stone and wood who built housing and other items for a living, until he started preaching. Not even Moses comes close in fame to the person born in a stable in Bethlehem who has inspired more books, stories and songs than any other person before or since.
While personally poor, that rabbi defended private property. Yet he also spoke out against political, business or religious corruption along with other forms of social injustice.
Jesus was the greatest rebel against the collaborators in his own nation with their Roman conquerors. But we have no record of him wielding a sword, although paradoxically: “Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”” (Matthew 10:34). The only time we know of that he wrote, it was in the dirt with his finger. The Nazarene shook things up.
That Jewish rabbi so inspired minds and hearts then and since that hundreds of thousands would willingly die in defense of what he taught and revealed.
That’s power beyond the numerous miracles and wonders Jesus worked, such as feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread or raising the dead back to life.
Senator Sanders (VT-I, self-declared Democratic Socialist) has recently suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination. Not unlike Jesus in a minor way, Sanders has irked many of his fellow Jews in the U.S., Israel and beyond.
But the “Sanders Revolution” is
- led by a man that became a millionaire ‘from selling books’ – meaning thanks to free enterprise.
- Sanders flew on private jets (see photos in the featured image at the right), despite his preaching about the Green New Deal and the purported dangers of rising carbon emissions.
- Which of Sanders’ three residences should he sell off to help the poor he claims to be fighting for with his democratic socialistic agenda?
The Sanders campaign was given an opportunity to respond to MHProNews about questions relating to manufactured housing with respect to their campaign plans and platforms. That was before the COVID19 shutdowns. The Sanders campaign replied, saying they would respond to specific points in their campaign platform raised by this publication. Those questions reflected viewpoints of manufactured home professionals, investors or even owners of manufactured homes – each of which could be seen as problematic to their interests. When the Sanders camp examined the links provided in MHProNews questions, they apparently decided not to respond at all, despite saying they would do so.
That’s water under the bridge, but not forgotten, since he is pledging to work with the presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden, like Sanders, shares a reputation for taking public positions that members of their respective faith traditions find repugnant. Rephrased, there are people from Biden’s and Sanders’ own faith-based or political circles that call them hypocrites.
If the Democratic Party sticks by Joe Biden, which is not assured given their party’s bylaws, they will have some things going for him in a purely political and media sense, but others that will be problematic. What neither candidate apparently had is true consistency on several important issues to millions of Americans.
That said, in fairness to Sanders is the following. February 18, 2020, “After Forbes reported that Marta Thoma Hall, who is married to a billionaire self-driving car pioneer, donated to Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator returned the money in November. No other billionaires have sent him funds since, according to a Forbes analysis.”
There seemingly has been almost no campaign coverage by any other professional source by bloggers or manufactured housing trade media beyond a mere mention, save MHProNews. Given what occurred in manufactured housing from 2009-2017 during the Obama Administration, one might think that the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) would been working to at least raise concerns about the campaign stances of certain Democratic candidates. Despite what Democratic donor and community leader Nathan Smith pledged while he was MHI’s chairman, there has been an abundance of silence from the Arlington, VA based trade group and their allies. There are several reasons to believe that if the presumptive Democratic nominee takes the White House, it could spell more trouble for manufactured housing, homeowners and investors.
Smith has been busy supporting MHI and Democratic candidates for years, which is his right.
But while Nathan Smith and MHI were claiming that they wanted roll-backs and changes in CFPB regulations made possible by the Obama-era passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, there is clear evidence that Smith and other MHI insiders supported candidates who stood for no changes in Dodd-Frank — or making it even tougher on small dollar lending that Smith himself said in the video above hurt manufactured home owners.
There are pages of records like the examples in the graphic below of screen captures based on FEC records. The sources is as reported by left-of-center and Soros-funded OpenSecrets. The photos below are from various mainstream media or Democratic Party outlets, as shown.
Manufactured Hypocrisy, Anyone?
There is a clear pattern of head-fakes, deception and what some describe as hypocrisy by specific movers and shakers in the manufactured housing industry who often happen to be members of MHI.
What the examples of Senator Sanders or former Vice President Biden reflects is that examples of hypocrisy are not limited to those inside the affordable housing industry or manufactured housing specifically.
But the problems caused by Dodd-Frank or regulatory overreach pale in comparison to what has been taking place in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic.
Industry Impact Loom$ – Beginning of End for BAU China-U.S. Relations?
With mainstream news reports claiming that U.S. intelligence knew as early as November 2019 of the viral outbreak in Wuhan, China – and that President Donald J. Trump wasn’t informed until sometime in January 2020 – questions and concerns about “deep state” behavior should be explored.
The stances taken by Bill Gates – who sat for years on the Berkshire Hathaway board of directors following Warren Buffett making his move into manufactured housing – and given their mutual stances on regulatory and other issues, an entirely new and arguably more severe problem is seemingly coming to light. However, the virus originated, there are reasons to believe that Gates – and thus Buffett – knew what was going on in communist China, perhaps weeks sooner than President Trump.
The transparent wisdom of the Jewish Rabbi Jesus who preached honesty and other Divine commandments is revealed by watching those who do the opposite.
On the day that Christians around the world call Holy Saturday, the contrast between the hypocrisy in business and politics – which are not limited to any one political party, organization, or personality – compared to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus merits deeper contemplation. A purpose of spotlighting MHI in this is that unlike their more modest rival in Washington, D.C. – the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) – MHARR is consistent and has been for years.
It is also worth noting that MHARR’s team is far more diverse than MHI, despite all of the pretense about diversity.
History matters.
Not only does history matters, but these high holy days in Jewish and Christian faiths matter. Without a grounding in moral laws, the willingness of some to do whatever they think they can get away with only grows.
That’s a wrap on this installment of manufactured housing “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” © 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
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
February 2020, Latest National Manufactured Housing Production Data, MHI and MHARR Comparisons
