Hey Reader,
Galvanize your experience to your advantage. What you go through is supposed to prepare and inform you for the subsequent things that come into your life. Use what you know to make decisions about the things you don't. And knowing that you don't know is viable in this context as well.
Reconnect with Your Inner Self
On the main website we are featuring our faith based articles and threads for the next few weeks! We want to inspire and encourage you to reconnect with you inner self this season. You're a spiritual being having a physical experience and it's important for you to nourish and spend time with yourself in a spiritually inclined way. Visit our website now for more information.
What I am Interested in this Week:
Are Real Estate Agents being Thrown under the Floor Boards?
On Friday the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to pay $418 million over the course of the next four years as a settlement for a lawsuit from a group of home sellers. These home sellers took NAR to court on account of artificially high commission fees. NAR is the largest Real estate agent association in America, 90% of all agents are members. At a high level how the buyer, seller, agent relationship in the real estate industry usually works is, a seller pays a commission to the buyer and agent at around 5-6% the sale price of the home. The buyer and agent typically split that. That 5-6% is a pre-negotiated number between the buyer and agent that the seller is generally unaware of. If this settlement goes through however, that pre-negotiated commission goes out of the window.
This would have the desired effect of lower the total cost for the seller, but it would also mean that real estate agents may be out of a job. This settlement will make the real estate market more competitive from the perspective of, sellers and buyers may both seek to remove the middle man. Also agents would have to negotiate their own price and the get the sellers to agree to pay. This new power dynamic at worst could decimate a whole job category especially for individuals who may be new to the industry. But also it has the potential to create a new opportunity for realtors to band together and work cooperatively with sellers and buyers, arriving at a better reality where the balancing out of the money becomes more equitable for all. Click here to read an article on this story.
The Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord
The World Health Organization (WHO) will be entering its final round of negations on the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Treaty in Geneva this Monday. The purpose of this treaty is to draft an international response to the next pandemic. This comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic where the creation and distribution of vaccines for the virus was done in a relative vacuum. Vaccine makers were not in accordance with one another in their drug development which led to patchy roll outs of various vaccines throughout the world. This new treaty seeks to resolve that issue by making a network where vaccine makers of various countries would share their discoveries and vaccines with WHO, and WHO would determine efficacy and rollout (how well the drug works and the logistics of how it should be distributed).
This network would allow drugs to be developed and disseminated quickly which would in theory limit the effects of a transmissive disease. Not all countries are on board with this however, with skeptics saying it violates privacy, the rights of citizens, and endangers the proprietorship of drug companies disincentivizing innovation. This could also lead to further issues if not all countries have access to this WHO network approved drug. Officials at WHO are hoping to get something in place as something would be better than nothing. They want to reach a decision by the World Health Assembly which happens at the end of May. And even if they don't, some officials are prepared to extend negotiations. Click here to read an article on this story.
Volcano Erupts in Iceland
Over the weekend a volcano erupted near Grindavik Iceland. This volcano marks the fourth volcano eruption in that region since December of the last year. No one was harmed but people did evacuate the area and there was damage to some of the infrastructure. The lava came up out of a fissure in the ground and started flowing towards the direction of Grindavik. Since Sunday the lava has slowed down in its progression and the main concern is if the lava does anymore damage to infrastructure and or hits the ocean. When lava touches water it could create mini explosions and generate toxic fumes. Click here to read an article on this story.
Word of Encouragement
This week I want to encourage you to fight in a new way. Sometimes the thing that changes the tide in a battle is your strategy. You don’t always need to work harder, sometimes you do need to work smarter. But just because you are working smarter doesn’t mean that you are not work hard as well. Apply adaptability to your life this week. Take a heightened approach to your challenges. Don’t just brute force your way through, but also don’t be reluctant to use brute force.
Have a great week! Feel free to reach out!
