Star of “Dirty Jobs” Mike Rowe lashed out against the lack of a hard-working mindset in America’s current culture. Rowe has spent most of his career highlighting the least thanks yet most crucial and hardworking jobs in the country in an effort to revive hard work.
Rowe appeared on an episode of Fox News’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum” to respond to the backlash that Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah received for a letter to employees explaining that hard work and longer hours would be expected in the New Year to maximize profits and make the business as strong as possible in the coming months.
Shared by Fox News Digital, the letter said, “Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from. 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.”
While this is a benign take, claiming that hard work can lead to success and that successful people find it important to put in the effort and hours to make a business successful, the internet came out bashing Shah for his letter. Mike Rowe found it absurd that Shah was receiving hate for his letter and quickly offered an on-air rebuke of the idea that hard work is a bad thing.
Row joked about Shah, quipping, “He 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. 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.”
Rowe continued to lament the way that some Americans view the worshipping of hard work, saying, “Today, that turn of phrase has become like so many other turns of phrase, a kind of triggering dog whistle of sorts. 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.”
Rowe has put his money where his mouth is, offering scholarships to people that he finds to be hard workers through his charitable foundation. He also had one more message for those listening to the interview. He wanted fans to know that if they feel the way he does, they are not alone in noticing the slow shift toward laziness in America.
Rowe concluded, “I offer work ethic scholarships through my foundation. We’ve given away $8 Million in the last 12 years or so. 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.”
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