{"id":868,"date":"2015-06-11T12:24:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T16:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/oikonomia\/?p=868"},"modified":"2015-06-11T12:36:57","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T16:36:57","slug":"mike-rowe-and-the-propaganda-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/oikonomia\/2015\/06\/mike-rowe-and-the-propaganda-of-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Rowe and The \u2018Propaganda\u2019 of Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

By Elise Hilton<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Rowe, the \u201cDirty Jobs\u201d guy,\u00a0makes an occasional appearance<\/a>\u00a0here on Oikonomia. Why do we like him? Because he appreciates hard work and honest work, just as we do.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surprising how many people don\u2019t share that appreciation.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Rowe posted,\u00a0on his Facebook page<\/a>, a letter he received from a rather unhappy man.<\/p>\n

Hey Mike<\/p>\n

Your constant harping on \u201cwork ethic\u201d is growing tiresome. Just because someone\u2019s poor doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re lazy. The unemployed want to work! And many of those who can\u2019t find work today, didn\u2019t have the benefit of growing up with parents like yours. How can you expect someone with no role model to qualify for one of your scholarships or sign your silly \u201cSweat Pledge?\u201d Rather than accusing people of not having a work-ethic, why not drop the right-wing propaganda and help them develop one?<\/p>\n

Craig P.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rowe is a gentleman, and responded as such. No name-calling or calling out, just an honest answer. Rowe said that he was not interested in politics or propaganda; he\u2019s interested in helping people find work. Unfortunately, he says, there are not enough people who really want to work. Oh, they say they do (see Craig, above), but they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

How does Rowe know this?<\/p>\n

From what I\u2019ve seen of the species, and what I know of myself, most people \u2013 given the choice \u2013 would prefer NOT to work. In fact, on Dirty Jobs, I saw Help Wanted signs in every state, even at the height of the recession. Is it possible you see the existence of so many unfilled jobs as a challenge to your basic understanding of what makes people tick?<\/p>\n

Last week at a policy conference in Mackinac, I talked to several hiring managers from a few of the largest companies in Michigan. They all told me the same thing \u2013 the biggest under reported challenge in finding good help, (aside from the inability to \u201cpiss clean,\u201d [as Rowe somewhat vulgarly refers to passing a drug test]) is an overwhelming lack of \u201csoft skills.\u201d That\u2019s a polite way of saying that many applicants don\u2019t tuck their shirts in, or pull their pants up, or look you in the eye, or say things like \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you.\u201d This is not a Michigan problem \u2013 this is a national crisis. We\u2019re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mike Rowe isn\u2019t a political kind of guy. He\u2019s a work kind of guy. A dirty hands kind of guy. A get the job done kind of guy. Once upon a time, that was known as a \u201cwork ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, apparently, it\u2019s \u201cpropaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published at the Acton PowerBlog<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Image credit: Mike Rowe Works Foundation Stickers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Elise Hilton Mike Rowe, the \u201cDirty Jobs\u201d guy,\u00a0makes an occasional appearance\u00a0here on Oikonomia. Why do we like him? Because he appreciates hard work and honest work, just as we do. It\u2019s surprising how many people don\u2019t share that appreciation. On Sunday, Rowe posted,\u00a0on his Facebook page, a letter he received from a rather unhappy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1787,"featured_media":869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,20,21],"tags":[36,83,257,210,82,636,568,38,12],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-vocation","category-work-2","tag-calling","tag-dirty-jobs","tag-employment","tag-meaning","tag-mike-rowe","tag-propaganda","tag-unemployment","tag-vocation-2","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nMike Rowe and The \u2018Propaganda\u2019 of Work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Elise Hilton Mike Rowe, the \u201cDirty Jobs\u201d guy,\u00a0makes an occasional appearance\u00a0here on Oikonomia. Why do we like him? 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