Every week, regularly readers here know that we have a new article plus a recap of the headlines from the week that was. This has been part of our evolutionary tradition on MHProNews for some years.
This weekend’s Sunday morning topic asks apt questions for every professional. Who do you trust and why?
First, words have meaning. The word ‘trust’ can have very distinct definitions. Here they are, per Google.
Today, we are focused on the notion of trust in the sense of confidence or reliability.
Confidence can be given, but it is also something that is earned. Our nation’s late former President Ronald Reagan famously quipped. “Trust but verify.” That mantra is worthy of mention.
Day by day, week after week, year after year, “We Provide, You Decide” © on more new stories, issues, and topics than any other publisher in manufactured housing’s history. We strive to use evidence, cite sources accurately and in context. We also ask the question that a good investigator does – “who benefits?” from a given practice? We follow the money trail. We alone have looked at dark money channels as it impacts our industry. We probe nonprofits in or outside of our industry, to see what influence or role they may be playing. We look at politics, the broader economy, but always with an eye on “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing.” ©
While among mere mortals in the last 1500 years, we can confidently say that no one is perfect, including ourselves, that doesn’t mean that people can’t earn trust. They can and should be able to do so.
Some follow merely partisan or other identity labels. It is understandable. Free will means the ability to choose.
But mere identity labels can be a way of placing oneself at the mercy of others, who may or may not be correct in an assessment, no matter how well intended. Thus the need for accountability. Accountability requires objective scrutiny. To hold those in authority to account is a traditional role good media is supposed to play. It’s isn’t always fun, believe me.
For this writer, the answer to – “who do you trust?” – is a simple one. God, the Creator of all. Once someone gets that foundational matter straight, many other things will become clearer.
As was noted in a recent Masthead, it is easier to believe in God than it is to believe in a universe without a god or creator. It is not only easier, it is more logical to believe in God than a godless universe. Want evidence? Read that for yourself, at the link below.
Once someone gets that straight, other matters come into sharper focus. Don’t get me wrong. There have been plenty of shills and con artists over the centuries that took religion or people’s faiths and twisted it to their own desires. As a history buff, that point is clear enough too. Once more, trust but verify. Observe and hold people accountable.
But it is equally clear that in the last roughly century and a half, the greater harm to humanity has come from the routinely godless system of socialism. Perhaps because the word “social” is in it, socialism seems cool to millions of Americans today. But they are arguably blind to the realities of what socialism/communism did and is doing in Cuba or Venezuela to our south.
Millions are blind as well to the tragic facts surrounding socialistic governments, like the rise of the old Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Communist China, North Korea, Vietnam, or elsewhere. We’ve been told often enough about the horrors of Nazi Germany. But the very phrase “Nazi” was a contraction that means “National Socialist.” Why isn’t that stressed more often for our mutual insight and understanding?
We in America live in a Republic. That is important to understand. We don’t pledge allegiance to the Democracy, but to the Republic. These aren’t political parties, they are specific legal terms that have meaning. A democracy can be manipulated, as the ancient Greeks and Romans learned. A republic can too, but properly understood, it is far sounder. Why? Because in the American instance, our Constitution was predicated on a belief in God, and the rule of law.
Those laws are supposed to protect all the people, not just the so-called elites, rich, and powerful.
America has never been perfect. Out system of government had democratic and republican elements to it. A properly informed, educated, and engaged electorate is among the things that those in power fear the most. Who says? The men quoted below, among many others.
In our family, we have a cultural blend. My wife is Iranian by birth. That nation’s government and our own are currently at odds. That nation’s people are largely under the thumb of their ruling class. They have no second amendment. A steady stream of propaganda is part of how those in power there stay in power, despite their problematic and self-serving record. That said, the Persian people have a rich cultural heritage that is nothing less than impressive.
This summer, Soheyla, my wife, became a U.S. citizen. It was and is a proud day. She has written before about the false promises made by politicians in Iran decades ago. Promises, promises. Broken promises.
Government can not give what it first hasn’t taken from someone else. Trust the government? That must be earned, not given. Look at the track record of the last 30 years. Many problems weren’t solved by government, they were often fostered or exacerbated by it. Our affordable housing crisis is but one example of that vexing reality.
That is why government must be as limited as possible, but as strong as necessary to protect “We the People.” The people must be informed, vigilant, and not easily persuaded by false promises.
Government can only give what it has first taken. Some of what it takes is used for government officials. So government is never as efficient as so many faith base groups of various religions have proven to be. On the bucket list for federal reform should be reducing the size of the federal government. State and local governments are more accessible. Faith based groups, due to volunteerism and other checks and balances, are routinely more efficient than our federal government. Study after study proves that point.
Thomas Sowell is routinely a clear thinker. One of many this writer has followed. When it came to the Affordable Care Act, or ‘Obamacare,’ here is what he said this before it was enacted. The free market needs safeguards, the rule of law. To think that government could ‘improve’ or make health care less costly was illogical based on history and reason alone.
That was clarity of thought. Government can’t give what it first hasn’t taken from another.
If we can’t trust government blindly, then certainly those who serve in office or who seek public office must be scrutinized too.
That same principle must apply to our trade associations. In our industry, there is plenty of reasons to distrust a certain trade group that holds gatherings in pleasing circumstances where people have a good time — but when their patterns of behavior are examined, they have arguably for years failed to do what they claim is their goal. We need look no further than the data below to realize that a major trade group is failing at their most basic claimed role.
Our industry is underperforming. It should be soaring. Instead, it is snoring. Who benefits from that? Logic and evidence tells us that special interests that arguably want to consolidate the industry at a discounted price. When they have consolidated as much as they think they can, that is when they will take their foot off the brake and apply it to the gas peddle.
A new industry structure is needed, because the current one is either debatably inept or corrupt, take your pick.
Given the affordable housing crisis, given years of useful research like Scholastica Cororaton for the National Association of Realtors, why isn’t manufactured housing achieving what the. Harvard Joint Center on Housing Studies expert Eric Belsky predicted almost two decades ago?
Facts and evidence speak loudly, when calmly considered.
With my better half off this morning, with no further adieu, let’s look at the week that was, 9.15 to 9.22.2019 as recaped by the headlines that link to their respective stories and reports below.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
What’s New in Washington, D.C. from MHARR
What’s New on the Masthead
What’s News on The Cutting Edge
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 9.21.2019
Big Money, Bain Capital, and Factory Home Building – John Geary Jumps into Abodu Prefab Housing
Friday 9.20.2019
Friday Federal Follies – Deep State, Revolving Door at HUD, MHI?
Thursday 9.19.2019
Koch, Senator Warren, POTUS Trump Sandwich, plus Manufactured Home Investing, Stock Updates
Pam Danner’s Replacement Announced, MHARR Rips HUD Leadership, More
Wednesday 9.18.2019
Examining “Incredible Shrinking Zoning Problem” for Manufactured Homes
Constitution Day, Facts, Videos, Grants Available, and Why It Matters
Tuesday 9.17.2019
Sons of Somerled, Warrior Music to Inspire Manufactured Housing Professionals
GPS, Satellites, Economic Vulnerability, China, and Space Force
Monday 9.16.2019
DFAB Robotic Housing Poised to Disrupt Housing Market, Says Swiss Team
Drone Strike on Saudis, POTUS Trump ‘In No Hurry’ – plus Manufactured Home Investing Updates
HUD’s Pending Disparate Impact Rule and Manufactured Housing
Sunday 9.15.2019
In God we trust, all others – including ourselves – require evidence.
But once the evidence is laid out, the time to act accordingly ought to follow. Let’s not forget to give credit to the lady who normally occupies this spot on Sunday morning. Thanks, Soheyla. We all owe her a debt of gratitude, she has earned mine and your – trust. “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Weekly headline news in review, analysis, fact-checks, and commentary. 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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