Mike Rowe Is On A Mission To Reverse The "Unspeakable Stupidity" Of Devaluing Work

[Elmira Telegram 285]

Quote

 

Rowe said he had nothing against college, but the universities his counselor recommended were expensive. “I had no idea what I wanted to study. I thought a community college made more sense, but Mr. Dunbar said a two-year school was ‘beneath my potential’,” explained Rowe.

“Mr. Dunbar pointed to a poster hanging behind his desk — on one side of the poster was a beaten-down, depressed-looking blue-collar worker. On the other side was an optimistic college graduate with his eyes on the horizon. Underneath them, the text read: Work Smart NOT Hard,” Rowe told the committee.

"Mike, look at these two guys," Mr. Dunbar said. "Which one do you want to be?"

"I had to read the caption twice. Work Smart NOT Hard?” Rowe recounted.

The visual was jarring, not to mention insulting, yet once again, nothing happened.

Rowe made his final plea to Congress in March of 2017 when he once again schlepped to Capitol Hill, this time for the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. He discussed how Career and Technical Education (CTE) can help close the skills gap and empower students to succeed, and stressed the need to reform the current law.

His message was simple: Career and technical education, and skilled trade professions, need a PR makeover and a champion. “If you want to make America great again, you’ve got to make work cool again,” he said.

This time he got some movement. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act) — the primary federal law aimed at developing and supporting CTE programs — was reauthorized, but not with the robust reform needed. His ideal of a groundswell of support for the trades from our lawmakers never materialized.

Rowe said his quixotic quest sprang from the early days of his mikeroweWORKS Foundation , as he was trying to figure things out. “The first time I went [to Congress], I was trying to figure out what the foundation really ought to be, and I essentially told them the ideals of ‘work’ needs better PR,” he explained.

Rowe reminded lawmakers that good PSAs make people think. “Like the weeping Indian made us think about littering because of the iconography that accompanied the whole campaign. It was also Woodsy the Owl and Smokey the Bear; they all got people to think in terms of basic conservation differently,” he said.

 

Read the rest here. 

[Ann 215]

Based on “man on the street” interviews I’ve seen I’d have to say all our schools, colleges and universities are failing miserably.  People couldn’t answer questions like who won the Civil War, who fought in the Civil War, who did the US fight against in WWII, where is this or that country located, who fought in the Revolutionary War, etc.    So discouraging.

[Andy 60]

1 hour ago, Ann said:

Based on “man on the street” interviews I’ve seen I’d have to say all our schools, colleges and universities are failing miserably.  People couldn’t answer questions like who won the Civil War, who fought in the Civil War, who did the US fight against in WWII, where is this or that country located, who fought in the Revolutionary War, etc.    So discouraging.

Well those are cherry picked, and often staged. I’m sure there’s some idiots out there but these “man on the street” things aren’t going to post videos of people who answer correctly - nothing to make fun of/get outraged at there

[Ann 215]

28 minutes ago, Andy said:

Well those are cherry picked, and often staged. I’m sure there’s some idiots out there but these “man on the street” things aren’t going to post videos of people who answer correctly - nothing to make fun of/get outraged at there

Actually the one I watched had two people who answered correctly, young and older individuals.   Memorial Weekend at the beach, perhaps alcohol and cannabis was the problem.

[JustAGuy 12]

On 6/2/2023 at 1:46 PM, Ann said:

Based on “man on the street” interviews I’ve seen I’d have to say all our schools, colleges and universities are failing miserably.  People couldn’t answer questions like who won the Civil War, who fought in the Civil War, who did the US fight against in WWII, where is this or that country located, who fought in the Revolutionary War, etc.    So discouraging.

We lost all of them....history is written by the winners. Doesn't mean what they sell you is reality. Look at the revolutionary War. We lost. I don't give one flying shit about independence. We still pay taxes. If you don't have kids and pay taxes you pay school taxes for example. The EU was a nazi party idea. The United nations is just a bigger form of the EU basically. 

The guy who was the big funder of the public education system to get it where it is today was none other then robber baron John D. Rockefeller. He said "I want a nation of workers not thinkers." School is nothing but an indoctrination conformist concentration camp to become the citizen they want/need you to be. What are tests in school? Nothing but memorizing a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Literally that is it. Not about actually understanding or applying any concepts. 

We are slaves who don't know we are slaves. They give you social programs and entertainment to keep you occupied and in line. Bread and circus.