Month: September 2022

Anyone in business knows that there are many great people in the world…kind, understanding…just good people that you enjoy doing business with. One of the great pleasures of business is in dealing with these people. To provide a good service at a fair price, and to have the respect of those you deal with, as you respect them.

Also in business you meet rude people, or those who cannot be satisfied regardless of what you do. It is unfortunate one has to deal with them, as they cause much more heartache than they are worth.

I recently had a lady ask for a full refund after she had consumed wholly the product. In essence, she ate the cheeseburger and then wanted a full refund because it was a terrible cheeseburger.

The initial thought is to say, “If the food was so bad, why did you eat it all?”

But what good is that going to do? You can’t reckon with a fool. They will only say something idiotic – which is their nature – words that only they will understand, but which is idiotic to everyone else.

So I thought about how to deal with the unreasonable people – in the absolute fastest way possible – so you don’t waste any of your time or energy on them. And I think one of the best ways is to give in fully to their demands – to do it immediately and without any thought – for the thought doesn’t affect them; it only affects you.

You tell them you will support their demands immediately, and give them a full refund. But then put the onus back on them. The cheeseburger for instance, you might say, “Yes, we will gladly refund 100% of your money. If you would like to pay some portion, we will leave that up to your kindness.”

I know what you’re thinking – the person will just take the 100% refund and huff away. And you’re right, they probably will. But it’s not about the money it’s about getting the person away from you as fast as possible, so their behavior doesn’t affect you in any way. Sure, if someone is being completely unreasonable you have to be firm with them. But for the general rude person, put the rudeness back on them, meet them 100% with kindness, show them how it is done, then allow them to express who they are. Maybe they won’t show any kindness. Maybe they will. But either way, they will know it exists on the earth, and you won’t waste any time with the fools.

I was in the building industry from 2001-2007 and then from 2015-2018. By 2018, it had gotten so difficult to deal with permitting authorities and find good subcontractors that I decided to stop building. Building a house is just a process, and the process itself had become such a grind that it wasn’t worth it.

I only mention this because recently I was asked to build a few rental houses for a former client. He said, “You built the same houses in 2018 for $84 a sq. ft., what do you think it would cost to build today?” I told him, “I don’t know, haven’t thought about it, but as a guess maybe $105 a sq. ft. Give me a couple days and I will find out.” I pulled up my old price list…and started calling suppliers and subcontractors to find out what the new prices were. Here’s a sample of what I found:

Material costs in 2018 vs 2022:
Concrete went from $101 a cu. yd. to $162. A 61% increase
Garage doors went from $600 to $1300, an 116% increase
Sod went from $100 to $155, a 55% increase
Shingles went from $22 to $36, a 63% increase

Labor costs from 2018 to 2022:
Framing – $2 to $5 a sq. ft, a 150% increase
Roofing – $30 a sq. to $60 a sq., a 100% increase
HVAC – $6000 to $9000 a 50% increase

In late 2018 the cost to build a basic yet comfortable one story home was $84 a square foot (not including land cost or builder profit). The house would sell for $140 a square foot, which we thought at the time was a great price for the home. We used $25 a sq. ft. as the cost for land, and $25 a sq. ft. for the builder profit.

That same home in 2022 would cost $130 a sq. ft. to build, an increase of 55%. The replacement cost of a home today, including the cost of land and builder profit would be a minimum of $175 a sq. ft. The owner decided it wasn’t worth it to build at that price.

Inflation is not going down but actually increasing
Based on the cost to build, the actual inflation rate is 55% in the last 4 years. Inflation in 2019 and 2020 was around 8% and for 2021 and 2022 it is over 20% (per year). Many think inflation has peaked but material and labor prices aren’t slowing down…they are still increasing, and at a faster rate. I think we are in the beginning stages of an inflationary spiral that will probably lead to hyperinflation.

With interest rates rising, the cost on the other end of the transaction – financing the home is increasing as well. The buyer is getting squeezed from both sides. This is why housing affordability is at record lows. House prices are up, financing costs are up, but thanks to inflation, the cost to build a house is up. Home prices don’t have much room to drop because the replacement cost is so high. The american people grow poorer.

The best one could hope would be for house inflation to slow to 0%, and for prices to stabilize. But prices won’t decrease…this is the new price ‘normal’. If the fed begins cutting rates, material prices will explode higher, from their recently ascended-to-high peaks. This might appear to be good for financial assets such as stocks, but it’s not, it will only obliterate what’s left of the american economy.

Should you buy a home now?
As much as I don’t want to say it, if you’ve been on the sidelines waiting to buy a home this might be the best time to do it. Especially if you can find one around replacement cost – $175 a sq. ft.

I’ll bet if you go to your pantry and start checking food labels you will be surprised at how many GMOs you’re eating. ‘Food’ companies are sneaking this trash into everything. The only warning is in small font located somewhere on the packaging.

I used to love Hellman’s mayo. I checked the label – ‘Contains Bioengineered Food Ingredient’. Tossed it.
Campbell’s Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup? ‘Contains Bioengineered Food Ingredient’. Tossed it.
Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing? Tossed it.

I missed those foods for a few weeks, but I don’t know the ramifications of rampant GMO consumption and so won’t participate in this food experiment. Maybe it will turn out to not be harmful. Maybe it is disastrous. I don’t care…I’m not eating it and I’m not feeding it to my family.

It is difficult to eliminate GMOs from your diet because they are in so many foods. GMO ingredients come from the main GMO plants – soybeans and corn. So anything that has soy, soybean oil, canola, corn, and corn oil will have GMOs. These are the ingredients to virtually all processed foods including chips, soups, sauces, ice cream, frozen foods, coffee creamer, desserts, candy, drinks, etc.

But it’s not just processed plant ingredients, at least those have to be labeled. What’s worse is that virtually all factory-farmed animals are fed GMOs. Those chicken tenders from your favorite fast food restaurant? Raised on GMOs. Chicken feed is made up largely of soybeans and corn, the two most genetically modified crops. That bacon you love? BBQ? Hamburger, milkshake, ice cream, steak? The animals were all grown with GMOs. But according to the USDA an animal that eats bioengineered feed is not considered bioengineered itself and doesn’t need to be labeled:

Q. Is an animal product considered a bioengineered food if the animal ate bioengineered feed?

• At 7 CFR 66.5, the Standard states that food produced from an animal fed bioengineered feed is not considered a bioengineered food solely because the animal ate a bioengineered feed. 
• For example, the milk from a cow that ate bioengineered alfalfa is not considered a bioengineered food just because the cow ate bioengineered alfalfa.
  
  

This means that virtually every restaurant, unless it is labeled organic, is serving meat from animals raised on GMOs. They have taken over the food supply.
Check your pantry and fridge. I bet you’ll be surprised at how much GMO you’re eating.

Update:
So the reason why GMO warning labels are suddenly appearing on many food products is that the effective date of the GMO labeling rule was 2/19/2019 but the mandatory compliance date was not until January 1, 2022. Food companies have had 3 years to feed us GMO foods without telling us. Here is more information on GMO labeling from the USDA:

Q. What is the difference between the effective, implementation, and compliance dates?

• The effective, implementation, and compliance dates are as follows:
  • Effective Date: This rule became effective February 19, 2019.
  • Implementation Date: January 1, 2020.
  • Extended Implementation Date (for small food manufacturers): January 1, 2021.
  • Voluntary Compliance Date: Ends on December 31, 2021.
  • Mandatory Compliance Date: January 1, 2022.
    
    

See if you can find the warning:

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If crime could be beautiful, theft through inflation would be the prettiest crime of them all. Why? Because many can tell they are getting poorer, but they don’t understand what is happening. If you rob a man of his wallet, he notices and becomes excitable, which is bad for the thief. If you rob a man via inflation, he carries on with his day as if nothing happened. Thus the thief can commit this crime with impunity, enriching himself and others that are in on the scam while the rest of society grows poor.

Let us look at an example
Imagine that you checked your bank statement on January 1^st, 2021 and had 1 million dollars on deposit.

In 2021, you were robbed of 7%, by the thieves’ own admission.

In 2022, the thievery is currently running 9%. (We will assume 2022 ends with 9% theft).

At the end of 2022, you open your bank statement and see that you still have $1,000,000 in your account. But in reality, since the cost of goods increased by 16.1% in 2 years, to be accurate, your bank statement should say you have $839,000 in your account. You have been robbed of $161,000, or $220 a day, every day for 2 years.

Imagine if you walked your dog every morning. And every morning, without fail, 7 days a week, a thief steals $220 from you. You would call the police, the fbi, you would go see your governor in an effort to stop the thief. You would do anything you could to stop the criminal from stealing $220 from you. Yet, you are actually, literally being robbed of $220 every day.

Going to leave $500,000 to your grandkids? Well, they just had $80,500 robbed from them. Now, they get $419,500. If a conman ripped you off for $80,500 you’d move the earth itself trying to get it back.

Everyone is affected, not just those with savings
Some will say, “Well, that only affects rich people. I’m just a wage slave and don’t have any savings, it doesn’t affect me.” But you too are being robbed. Every dollar you earn is worth less. In the last 2 years, every worker got paid 16.1% less. That $1,000 paycheck? It’s worth $839 now. Stolen in broad daylight.

But you can ‘protect’ yourself from the inflation robbery, right?
Let’s look at ‘protecting yourself from inflation’, a wonderful phrase the money masters use. They say, “You can outwit inflation theft – just make the right investments…we will help you beat the robbers!”

So on 1/1/21, you put your 1 million in the Dow, which was at 29982. (We don’t know what it will be at the end of 2022 but today it is at 31790, an 1808 point gain, or 6%.) At the end of 2022, your account balance shows $1,060,000. But after subtracting for the inflation robbery you’ve lost 10.1% of your money. Your account balance should read $899,000.

The Nasdaq on 1/1/21 was 12888. It is currently at 11883, a decline of 1005 points or 7.8%. Add in the 16.1% you were robbed of and you have lost 23.9% of your money. Your account balance should show $761,000.

Gold on 1/1/21 was $1822. It is currently at $1723 – a decline of $99 or 5.5%. Add in the 16.1% robbery and you have lost 21.6%. Your account balance should show $784,000.

If someone is stealing $220 a day from you it is hard to take your remaining money and invest it in a way that makes up for the continual theft of $220.

The fruit of the inflation tree
Inflation is bantered about the airwaves as though it is a small philosophical problem, a trifling economic concern. It is defined by the IMF as “the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time.” This sounds so innocuous. Almost cute. But it hides the truth – it is a robbery of your very life. How? You spend your finite time on earth working for money. The money you receive as payment represents your time, your life. By stealing money via inflation theft, the government is stealing a portion of the life of everyone in the country. The entire nation grows poorer.

Milton Freidman said that “Inflation is the cruelest tax.” But it isn’t a tax, it’s a robbery. That is why inflation is such a beautiful crime – in the eye of the thief – because he steals your money and you don’t notice. You check your bank statement and it still shows you have $1,000,000 in your account; your grandkids still get $500,000; your paycheck still shows $1,000. But you and all of your countrymen are being robbed mercilessly.

A side note
I was at a Men of St. Joseph meeting last night, and one of the readings was from Luke 14:33. It says, “In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” We all found ways to change the words to suit our purposes, so we don’t actually have to renounce our possessions.

But, if you renounced your possessions, this inflation robbery would affect you the least, if at all.

I only mention this because every time I come across some problem or issue, I try to see what Christ said about it. And every time, without fail, what He says to do is the right way. It might not be the answer I want to hear, and almost impossible to follow as Nock said, but Christ’s words are always right. Maybe that is why the first paragraph of The Imitation of Christ says, “To meditate on the life of Jesus should therefore be our chief study.”