Mike Rowe Says Days When People Valued Hard Work ‘Are Gone’
By Movieguide® Contributor
DIRTY JOBS host Mike Rowe is speaking up about the value of hard work in a culture that promotes laziness.
In an interview on THE STORY, “Rowe responded to the uproar generated by the year-end email sent by Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah, which was criticized by some as ‘outrageous’ or ‘terrible,'” FOX News Digital reported.
“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” part of Shah’s email read. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success. Hard work is an essential ingredient in any recipe for success. I embrace this, and the most successful people I know do as well.”
“Hard work is essential for success, and a key part of getting things done. Everyone deserves to have a great personal life – everyone manages that in their own way – ambitious people find ways to blend and balance the two,” his email continued.
Rowe said on THE STORY, “[Shah] didn’t get the memo that there’s a new sheriff in town, and this sheriff is in charge of the words. And the words no longer mean what they used to mean. And this is a shame.”
“Work ethic used to be a virtue,” he continued. “And by that, I mean, it was a thing that was completely apolitical. Work ethic was the thing we all aspired to because we all knew in our guts that it could help us.”
“Today, that turn of phrase has become like so many other turns of phrase, a kind of triggering dog whistle of sorts,” Rowe continued. “It means that if you come out in favor of work ethic, then you are de facto on the side of the greedy, rapacious capitalists who are merely trying to exploit the worker.”
In fact, Rowe’s mikeroweWORKS foundation promotes the benefits of hard work.
“Our crumbling infrastructure, our widening skills gap, the disappearance of vocational education, and the stratospheric rise in college tuition—these are not problems,” Rowe said. “These are symptoms of what we value. And right now, we have to reconnect the average American with the value of a skilled workforce. Only then, will the next generation aspire to do the work at hand.”
“We want people to understand the impact of skilled labor on their lives, and we’re convinced that the solution has to start with a new appreciation for hard work,” the foundation stated.
“I offer work ethic scholarships through my foundation. We’ve given away $8 million in the last 12 years or so,” Rowe explained. “I’ve seen it firsthand. You’re not imagining it, your viewers aren’t imagining it. Work ethic, personal responsibility, delayed gratification, a decent attitude – those were things we all used to be able to agree were virtues. Those days are gone.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Mike Rowe blasts how expensive college has gotten, and wants Americans to see value in trade and vocational schools.
“[College is] more expensive than it’s ever been, but it’s also more expensive than health care. It’s more expensive than real estate. It’s more expensive than energy,” Rowe said. “Never in the history of Western civilization has a thing become more exponentially expansive faster than the cost of a four-year degree. That’s fact. If that doesn’t make you angry, then I don’t know what [will]. It’s bananas.”
As the cost of four-year universities continues to rise, Rowe believes that college is no longer worth the price.
According to a report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, the cost of college and university programs have surged 169% since 1980. Meanwhile, the cost of vocational schools and trade programs have remained a fraction of the cost, despite both routes leading to jobs with comparable salaries.
“We’ve told an entire generation that the best path for most people is the most expensive path,” Rowe said. “And we’ve also promoted college not on its merits, but at the expense of every other kind of degree of any kind of certification training.”
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