Mike Rowe on well-paying dirty jobs & male decline
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- Опубликовано: 18 июл 2023
- The country's favorite blue-collar champion calls attention to the 'skills gap' and asks why young men spend so much time online.
reason.com/video/2023/07/19/m...
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Mike Rowe is a bestselling author, Emmy winner, and podcaster best known for his stint hosting The Discovery Channel's long-running Dirty Jobs, where he performed the sort of work we all rely on but don't want to think about too much.
From cleaning septic tanks to putting hot tar on roofs to disposing of medical waste, he's done it all-and loves to talk about the value of the hard, honest work that he thinks is devalued by a society fixated on sending everyone to college. I caught up with Rowe at FreedomFest, an annual gathering held this year in Memphis.
We talked about how his mikeroweWORKS Foundation matches young people interested in learning trades with employers dying for applicants, why men continue to fall farther behind women in school and work, and how Knobel Whiskey, named after Mike's maternal grandfather, is fueling his nonprofit's impact.
Photo Credits: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Mikerowe.com; Mikerowe.com/Ben Franze; Paul Souders / Danita Delimont Photography/Newscom; Bill Vaughan/Icon SMI 726/Bill Vaughan/Icon SMI/Newscom; Tom Williams/Roll Call Photos/Newscom; CHAD CAMERON/UPI/Newscom.
Music Credits: "Robot Revolt," by Alex Growl via Artlist.
I LOVE that line, "If these are the snowflakes, where are the clouds from which they fell? That would be us." Over the years, kids have never changed. The parenting has changed, and that is where we need to focus our attention.
Typical conservative. You want to reach into every home and have your way.
Parenting has changed bc the attitude towards parenting changed first, for good reasons and bad! Maintaining the correct attitude towards children has become the new zenith, and doing that while working overtime every week is strictly insane!
Exactly
The next generation is gonna be even worse smh
nice to hear differing perspectives within ReasonTV, but specifically the comments in this video, as someone’s who:
1. born in the Philippines and now a US citizen
2. turned 18
3. through the internet, i have explored all kinds of perspectives; from differing religions like New Age and Christianity to differing political views like Communism to Conspiracy Theories (e.g. chemtrails, the blood cults, pyramid hierarchy structures between industries like medical, economics, education, and military)
Bought my daughter a "needs lots of love" car for $1. Decided that she needed to learn how to change a tire, oil, etc while rebuilding the suspension on the car. She turned into my little grease monkey and helped with everything else. Now at 20 y/o she's working as a mechanic. So proud of her!
Our* daughter
I always wished my Dad would have done this with my brother and I too. Unfortunately we were part of the "children aren't meant to be seen or heard" generation. Thankfully I am very hands-on and learned everything from the Internet, my brother on the other hand is absolutely clueless and couldn't even figure out how to put air in his damn tires at nearly 27 lol.
@PseudeaEpimetheus That's why you need to look for older cars. Honestly any car from 95 and on is best. Because in 1995 they unrolled will actually it should be 94. Pardon. 1995 every residential vehicle received OBD. Everyone thinks OBD is so great. Because it can find your problems diagnosing issues.
But what's really frightening about this is that OBD can be hacked. As a matter of fact all of our business was OBD for years they started unfolding that in the late '60s early '70s.
I had a very deep 2-hour talk with a pilot. Shockingly we talked about flat earth for 2 hours. But that isn't even the big stuff. OBD was being unrold within all residential vehicles. By doing so, these can be hacked and literally wrecked. Three pilots admitted to how dangerous this is because it was going from military application to hands of who knows? I even stated well I'm sure they have used this type of technology to take out others. Such as the scientist that went against naming a prion protein 1982. By 83 he died in a train accident. And the bio weapon they wanted MRNA technology. Had its foothold. Manipulating DNA via RNA synthesized proteins.. How else do you think they were able to come up with MRNA technology? I'm speaking to you today not the fellas.. The piolets..
Obd can be very dangerous. And most of our modern cars. Aren't worth a dime. It started to be unrolled within the early '90s but those are the higher echelon cars. You're pretty good from 94 and back. I hate that my MK1 2005 has OBD. I wish I could take it out. That's one way they can destroy all of our vehicles. All at once stopped. There used to be a lot of videos here on RUclips about hacking cars. But of course they took that out. You can find a few here and there though. Check on it. It will shock you. And you'll actually have to read articles that people wrote. Don't look up just Google look off of DuckDuckGo or search engine brave. You'll find so much more. Cheers
God Bless you good job
Proud of her and you too for not caving to the demands of our kids today.
After 40 years of work, 30 in the trades, when people treat my crew like shit, I say “Great, do it yourself, we’re the last in this trade left in this region! Call the office and settle up with the boss.” It’s all fun and games until we get the call back and the apology for treating tradesmen like slaves, and the price goes up.
Bravo !
Kudos to you for defending your staff. I am amazed how so people treat those that they feel are beneath them. Nothing like finding out those people can't do the work themselves and are dependent upon those who they feel are stupid because they don't have an expensive degree.
@@joefaller4525 Yep. That's often how it works. Things magically get fixed, repaired, renovated, cleared, cleaned, replaced - all by themselves.
And in actual fact, the vast majority of university degree "credential" holders at the moment are doing the country more harm than good.
- closing in on 2 trillion dollars' worth of college debt, much of which will be addressed courtesy of the hardworking taxpayer.
- most of the "progressive" thought-garbage that has resulted in the Long March through our institutions: government, medicine and health, education, and corporate.
This crap is promoted and supported by so called higher educated people.
I got my higher education 45 years ago. Things were different then.
Love to see it
ur a good one. where can i sign up
I started as a blue collar in adulthood. Never hated the actual work. Sometimes it was fulfilling. Sometimes it sucked. But what made me leave were the people who worked in those jobs. There was major protectionism on their part, always wanting to keep me ignorant so that I couldn't pull my weight. Worse and more consistently, I was yelled at for any mistake I made no matter how significant. After trying for so long, I decided to go to college. Don't regret it. Trade employers, treat your up and comers well or you're going to continue to lose them.
You must've been around just bad people, because all the blue collar workers iv ever interacted with, except one company but that was due to what city that company is in, have been overly eager to get new people into their jobs that they over share about the job and scare people away with info dumps.
I had the exact same experience
I have had experience of people keeping information to themselves. If they are the only person who can do a job they get a lot more job security. A lot of the failing is in companies not documenting procedures and methods properly and not providing adequate training.
Sounds like an excuse to be lazy
@@pathofresilience1796 it means you have to teach yourself the job while keeping up a level of output sufficient to keep the bosses happy. It means until you learn you are doing jobs inefficiently more effort for the same results. Not lazy. It also is sometimes that experienced workers are cutting corners that should not be cut while constantly pointing out to the bosses how much more productive they are than the new guy. If they have to do the job properly to teach somebody the wrong people might wonder why their output has suddenly fallen back.
People are TIRED of being treated like cattle. Period.
I totally agree . But if you act like cattle , you will be treated like cattle
@@notsure7060 I mean. What's the alternative besides violent revolution?
@@lyotimachida5380 Si vis pacem, para bellum
@@lyotimachida5380a nation wide movement against consumerism and centralization. Using modern technology to break our over dependence on corporate oligarchs. Become a more self sustaining nation that doesn't lose billions in trade deficits. American society needs more transparency, the billionaire class should not be above the law.
@@lyotimachida5380 I would have no problem with that, at least if said revolution led to more equality, less corporate greed (or at least regulation that stops corporations from exploiting their workers!) etc.
My son hated school and honestly they really were letting the boys down. Thankfully he found his niche and is currently working on a tug boat at a very active port. I am so proud of him!
Doing something constructive and contributing to the functioning of the world. Instead of majoring in underwater soap carving.
Im still waiting to hear back from CAT I have worked for JD TESLA and LUCID making more money doing better things but still curious how CAT has not responded
It is funny, no one actually thinks of how important a tug boat is to global transpart (ergo, you buying stuff at a store). There is NO WAY a large cargo ship could ever dock itself without nuking the port it is trying to dock at without a tug boat
Will you be proud when he dies at work doing his shit job? 😂
I read the school system was designed by Catholic nuns way backwhen. So these nuns are women and the school system is designed for women and not for men or boys. I hated school. Just an idea. Peace.
55 years old. Adding that for perspective. I went to college, ran out of money. Joined the Navy. Got money for college. Finished college with a BA in Social Psychology. Didn’t want to go to law school or grad school so it was pretty worthless as degrees go. Two years out of college I joined an Electrical Apprenticeship. 4 years later, turned out as a Journeyman. 4 years as a Journeyman, I got my contractor’s license at 35 years old. I have no employees. I make my own schedule. I own everything and have no overhead. I work three days a week. I make GREAT money. I’m a Union contractor so my benefits come through the IBEW. Good luck finding that kind of work life balance in ANY corporate or professional gig.
Stephen S. Rodrigues, MD, Howard University College of Medicine 1983.
Tenderness Loyalty Compassion is only the True Pure Cure for Rape Procreate Pregnancy STD 9m Cancer Leaving a Crying Newborn Babies.
(Love is magical thinking within itself does not exist is a lethal lie deadly deception Science fiction fraud fantasy mind-trickery against Children)
😮 I work corporate and work life balance is a joke. People are obsessed with climbing the latter by any means necessary /and most are miserable with chronic illness and mental health issues. You are winning in life forsure.
You have overhead. You just don’t know. Read the book “ where my money go”.
@@innocentbystander674 realistically, if you’re breathing, you have overhead and there is always insurances and licenses, etc. What I was getting at is no lease on a building and owning my service van. No payroll.
This is possible while you're young. Once you're older and have expenses and assets and such to manage, working for 4-5 years to learn a trade at a low wage is not feasible. I wish it was, but it's not. I'm 49 and would love to learn a trade right now but can't survive the low wage term to get to the Journeymen stage.
It's really wonderful to come across people who freely share valuable information online. You never know what kind of knowledge you might stumble upon that could have a lasting impact on your life.
Don't procrastinate when it comes to saving and investing. Don't wait for the perfect timing; start now because the current moment is the best time to invest.
What specific type of investment are you referring to? I'm aware that making money through investing is not as straightforward as it may appear.
Cryptocurrency trading appears to be quite lucrative. Despite the constantly changing nature of Bitcoin, it's evident that the cryptocurrency community is here to stay. John Joseph, you're doing an excellent job.
I apologize for interrupting, but I have been searching for assistance with this type of trading as my work consumes most of my time, leaving me with limited opportunities to focus on trading. How can I get to know him?
INSTAGRAM
I started in my craft (mechanical engineering) in about 2001.
I was fired from 8 years employment just last month, after about 3 years of horrific conditions from management.
All I want from this stinking corporate society is respect and loyalty from management. JUST VALUE YOUR EMPLOYEES, GET OFF OUR BACKS, LET US DO WHAT WE KNOW.
Some of us have no desire to manage or run our own businesses. There is such a thing as servanthood workers, who will be your most trusted, loyal, reliable employees, who work really well doing this. But when management greed and disregard becomes more and more normal, do you want us to wipe off the muck, get back up, and repeat the situation we've been subjected to about 8 or 10 times in the last 2 decades?
Underappreciated.
Underpaid.
Under-incentivized.
Un-promoted.
And blamed for all of it.
Yes, now get back into the trenches, shoveling shit, so that my Social Security Benefits and stock holdings remain steady.
Nailed it👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Go work for a non-woke business then.
@@74KU fucking daily wire bots are getting out of hand
Then automated
Three years into a four year university degree I realized I had chosen the wrong field. I finished the degree rather than waste the three years I had already invested, but immediately on graduating I signed up for another two years to learn a trade. I was amazed at how much money a good tradesman can make if you run your own business and work hard. I had a nice house in the suburbs fully paid off by the time I was 35. I never regretted becoming a blue-collar tradesman instead of a white-collar professional.
Somebody should have clued you in. Would have saved you some time and money. Boomers always knew the dirty jobs make the $$$. All my friends, and my parents, were in the trades. We had a BIG family and would never have survived if dad didnt work every day, make good money and even worked scab. That means he was a union guy but he had bills and he would cross the picket line. We had no fancy stuff. Just the necessaries.
@@queenbee3647the dark side of what people like Mike Rowe won't talk about is that if you get hurt doing one of these Dirty Jobs a lot of times you do not have a safety net because companies will fight you in workers compensation Court
What trade did you learn? I’m curious
@@dwellner502 Paid off house at 35. Must be a plumbistic engineer. $200 to tighten a valve seat.
So I am a white collar professional. I am a financial advisor. You touch on something I see everyday which is the business owner tradesman who can buy and sell me 3 times over....(and I do pretty good). Maybe we need to focus more on THAT transition from HVAC tech to HVAC business owner. Auto body repairman to "I own 5 collision repair businesses"
“Find something you’re good at and figure out how to love it” is some of the best advice out there. The amount of people that get to take what they love and are passionate about and turn it into a job are very few. Plus, if you turn your hobbies into work, you no longer have any hobbies.
Let's not forget that before smartphones and Netflix, people of his generation spent a shitload of time watching tv and drinking at the bar
The bar/tavern has been around for thousands of years, no tv back then, fights/gambling were probably tv most of the time.
@@caesarsalad1170 yep, it just changes from one generation to the other
@@caesarsalad1170 china still has a huge gambling issue
What's wrong with that!?!?
?@@caesarsalad1170 What kind of munchies did caveman bars have?
Two media personalities talking about a hard day's work.
Sickening isn’t it?
I'm a firm believer in doing it myself because frankly I'm sick and tired having to save up a week or two of pay in order to pay some else to do the work in a day or two, especially when I can do just as shitty of a job for free.
That's always been my motto but there are things that I don't want to do anymore and neither does anyone else.
😂
😅
Well as free as the cost of materials and tools are, and all the gas to make the multiple trips to the store to get said materials and tools that somehow despite knowing you have somewhere you cant find and have to go buy again just to use and lose again. Yet still cheaper than paying a "professional" that as you said will do just as shit a job usually (i suspect in some cases, not all, on purpose)
A manager who types better than his secretary should limit himself to managing because that is his COMPARATIVE advantage. You pay for doing it yourself with your time.
Started as an auto mechanic. Went to meatpacking. Now work in a chemical plant. Wish I could go back and tell 18 year old myself to go to college. I'd have less scars, a less destroyed back and knees. Less debt because wages did not go up for forty years. Pushing sixty and I realize the "work ethic" mantra was all a scam.
you should know Crying Newborn Babies requires freshly squeezed naturally warmed breastmilk to survive and thrive cannot lie be criminals villains rapist killers cannot be nourished breast-fed Cairo syrup paper money coins bit coins celebrities aircraft carriers presidents actresses Hollywood electricity TV smart phones dumb phones computers napalm money plutonium yellowcake painkillers without suffering lifelong #PTSD Post-Partum Trauma Stress Decay; Mind-Muscular-Bone Marrow Cancer.
There was never a need for medical doctors!
Pregnancy binds the entire species family!
Pregnancy requires no doctors only midwives.
children must know history especially CIA paperclip! Then vomit hopefully change the destiny of children's lives and blue planet.
the family and the planet are dying and you are guilty of being here so guilty of what you've done doing and will do.
all family species females must know Pregnancy can only be accomplished 2 ways: wonderfully cooperatively godly and evil demonic Savage brutal violence ungodly.
jjust as a reminder today I see little white girls being beaten by their mothers while other mothers standby watching no movement.
Color is irrelevant and I can also say that color is relevant because I can see little black babies treated the same way ungodly savage brutal torture torment enhanced interrogation until they are broken souls and will remain broken for their entire life inability to pursue happiness drugged out having to work for money that don't exist.
I just got here 1957 the species family already corrupted and I am here to sprinkle tenderness loyalty and compassion the Only true pure cure for rape procreate!
4th July 1776
The founding fathers fatal flaw forgot all types of slavery is about using children as beasts of burden concubines sex toys punching bags and food.
white on white baby killing aborting must end today!
American slavery a few white males in for control of all females all colors all children method of control persecution torture terrorism traumatization intimidation enhanced interrogation must end ASAP.
White females should've never never never allowed the Salem witch trials to occur.
White females should've never never allowed white males to start delivering babies in slaughterhouses.
White females should've never never never allowed Hitler to rise to power
white females should've never never allowed nuclear bombs all types to be invented to blow up children of other colors white to that's a function of severe brainwashing self-hatred must end ASAP.
that me introduce myself, I'm 66-year-old black male born Mobile Alabama finished medical school Howard University College of medicine Washington DC 1983 in the middle of Vietnam inner-city black on black crime bloodbath killings fields All I saw was dead babies that mothers dead fathers overdosed HIV alcohol tuberculosis syphilis eclampsia preeclampsia sudden-death of Pregnancy feeble little black babies suffering from #PTSD Post-Partum Trauma Stress Decay; Mind-Muscular-Bone Marrow Cancer...
Which color family member have been starting cycles of wars cannibalism baby killing since the Ice Age 13,000 years for no reason except for pure evil and hatred of self? white on white cruelty creating interspecies food chain children at the bottom must end now.
family we got work to do Adolf Hitler's killing machines are still running churning out dead babies poisoned babies babies already suffering from #PTSD Post-Partum Trauma Stress Decay; Mind-Muscular-Bone Marrow Cancer are not receiving their birth rights persecuted while in The Uterus that's called ungodliness any other word barbarism savagery brutality cruelty will not strike a nerve causing you to change your mind and be kind to children. Get them off the bottom of the food chain.
White female I'm obligated to inform you that Whites in our family of human beings have had millions of missed opportunities to emancipate white children from white parents inflicting PAIN... Parents aborting innocent newborns creating inbreeding incest using children as chattel property livestock servants beasts of burden beating whipping torturing them to death buying and selling children teaching them to do the same hating themselves and today hating black so viciously you will beat a white child almost to death as punishment.
My husband says the same thing. He's beaten and broken. Yet he still has to go out everyday and kill himself.
Work ethic only works if you gain equity in what you do
Not true. Plenty of college grads are in worse health than you. Or lost their hearing or eyesight. For debt, you needed to follow the Ramsey plan. If you'd maxed the Roth IRA, you would have been a millionaire in only twenty years of work. How many new trucks did you have? Most Americans squander their savings and wealth building.
Learn software engineering, no degree required
As a Black Male turning 43 years old next month I can say we were screwed by our educators. They may have meant well but they pushed good grades saying this will get us out of slavery. But in reality tradesmen get paid more, they are in higher demand, and they can even work independently as business owners.
Yes, you have to weigh the cost and benefits. My nephew went to university. His best friend apprenticed a trade. By the time nephew completed his studies with debts on his back, his friend already bought his first house.
I was a junior in college when my mother called me and asked “what’s your major?”. “Math.”, I said flatly. “Who’s gonna pay you to do math a year from now? Why don’t you take some computer programming courses?” I did and it paid the bills for the next 50 years.
Yeah man, all those teachers are socialists. I went to college for 3 months of b******* while my friends in construction were already driving new trucks and buying homes. I joined them and never looked back 🤑
Pardon, grades and doing well matters, at all levels including in a vocational/trade school. A business owner needs to possess at least a modicum of accounting knowledge, as well some idea of civics and social studies. If your business runs an marketing campaigns, it'd be beneficial to know statistics.
no they don't get paid more they get paid WAY more. as a college graduate I feel tricked.
Turned 50 this year. Never was good in school, 6 years to get through high school. I worked in the food service industry for 7 years, moving to Mechanical, Manufacture home electrical, Silicon Wafer manufacturing, Security, back to Manufacturing, Hazmat truck driving, to chemical manufacturing tech. I have a year of college in automotive, a year in IS, and half a year in welding. I currently have a job that pays a solid 6 figures and am part of a chemical response team that covers 7 states. Having been pushed my entire adult life to go to college, it saddens me that the opportunities that have brought me to this place in my life are not really available for the generations after mine. Mike is changing that I feel. But hey, I'm just a slow, uneducated individual, what the heck do I know. Peace and love all.
Why didn’t you do well in school?
@@martinlutherkingjr.5582normally it has to do with home environment and poverty. In college if you are working 50-60 hrs a week to make ends meet you are not going to have decent grades.
@@calisingh7978 was trying to work through college and couldn't study after work I was exhausted. I dropped out and joined the military. Luckily I have been in trusted positions anywhere I worked for. Same job now for 30 years. In high school I was a 4.0 student in college I was failing in 2 classes and bailed before my grades went below 3.8
@@calisingh7978speak for yourself. That is such a bs excuse.
Not sure my fellow Coast Guard vets would agree that it's the "safest" service. Anyone who's had to pull a family off a sinking boat in the middle of a storm understands the origin of the saying, "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back". Semper Paratus.
Plus the interdiction of armed drug smuggling boats. Some of those sea rescues are awesome!
Love Mike Rowe and I’m with him on almost everything. But i think its time for a millenial to interview him. Too many gen x and boomers interview him and ask the same questions but they dont go the distance with those questions or highlight what millenials and gen z are actually experiencing on the ground. Its a different world. Things are very different and i think that you’re not going to get these questions asked or answered until you start getting that generational perspective.
Whenever i see a new mike rowe video on my feed i go straight to the comments. I wanna see who is calling him out on all that crap in the workforce today ( low pay, poor benefits, etc.)...im happy to see people entering the trades but the trades arent for everybody. And it doesnt solve the fact that people are burnt out and treated like sponges by useless employers.
while i agree with you guys i think your missing the point of his trades push. its not meant to be everybody do this solution. its not even really a solution to those kind of problems mentioned. and really if you think about it. Rowe really isent the person who can change or even bring a push to change those things. Meanwhile trades or "gig" work recently still pays mostly solves those problem if you put the work in.
Fore sure! Mike has a boomer mindset and is clueless about many of modern issues, ESPECIALLY concerning the real reason men are checking out. WOMANISM! Young men no longer have INCENTIVE to work like a slave at shitty jobs for delusional boomer bosses in an age where whamen are strong, independent, and "don't need no man". Having a family to support was what motivated men to be wage slaves. Getting married to the modern feminist is a fools game and young men are realizing marriage and family life is too risky in a world where there is 50% chance he will have his kids taken from him. Women initiate 80% of divorce and are usually awarded cash and prizes for doing so. Men want nothing to do with that nonsense. Its easier and safer to just stay at home and play video games.
This is an excellent comment. I like Mike, but he is still out of touch with the younger generations who were not raised to deal with a world of macro forces making it more and more difficult to get ahead. Throw in the melt-down and lunacy and selfishness and insanity of American women, and I don't blame them for dialing out and waiting for the boogaloo.
I agree. I think a millenial/genz interview of Mike Rowe would be rich and interesting. Curious tho, who would you choose to interview him? Lex would be my pick for some different flavor.
I went to college and got a bachelor's in IT but there was no opportunity around here and I didn't want to move thousands of miles away so I decided to try to be an electrician. I applied to dozens of electrician businesses but only got a couple of call backs and no interviews - nobody wanted to take on an apprentice - even though I would consider myself pretty far ahead of the average person in electrical/electronics - they all wanted journeymen and master electricians.. I keep wondering how to become a journeyman if nobody will take on an apprentice... So I finally ended up getting on at a sawmill that has extremely good benefits and pretty high pay for this area - the kind of place I could theoretically retire from. But something interesting I've learned about this sawmill is, they have an electrician department and apparently, occasionally they take on apprentices.. So maybe I've just taken the long way around to become an electrician. I'm going to keep working in the sawmill and just keep an eye out for any electrician openings. But yeah, college was a waste of time. If I could go back, I'd probably look more into trade school - electrical, HVAC, plumbing, welding, mechanic, carpentry, etc.
Look into joining your local trade union. No experience necessary. I'm applying to my local electrician union in the midwest. Finished my test and interview. Just waiting to hear the call to start.
Some IBEW are really strong. Philadelphia journeyman union elections make $61/hr with a total package of $116.61/hr. Maxed out 401k, 3 pensions, really good health savings. NONE of that benefits gets taken out of your paycheck. Your wage is your wage.
Businesses have been saying how "nobody wants to work anymore" regularly for over a century now. People want to get paid a decent wage and still be able to see their kids grow up. Now everyone is struggling to the point that both parents have to work full-time jobs and overtime, that parents spend less time with their own kids than the teachers in our schools spend with them. It's just ridiculous now. Hell I haven't been home from work or seen my family in 3 months now. I'm sick of this shit
I'm a tech, software/hardware since high school. At 40 I recognised that my mother was right that I would have been better off in "the trades," but the guidance counsellors, based on my technical skills, couldn't see that. I think if they could have taken the time to figure me out a little perhaps I would have been a great electrician or welder/fabicator. That said, at 55 I've had a sketchy but fruitful career in I.T. (while collar) but one of my favourite filler jobs was roadside assistance and recovery. Whether it was high school or not the peer pressure was always "you're better than that," but in reality no one is better than another, we all just have roles to fill so we can contribute to society. We are all peers in some sense.
A lot has been done. They have reintroduced trades classes to many High Schools throughout the country and more are being added every year. It's getting better.
Never work for a wage. You're a loser the second you "clock in".
I'm selling power tool nipple guards if anyone's interested.
@@amarissimus29 lol
@amarissimus29 😂🤣😂I'm getting 🤏🍆energy from you.
Now add Ramsey's financial peace course so they don't accumulate debt.
He aged like fine wine.
I started watching his show as soon as it aired.
One of my favorite shows and show hosts.
My favorite Rowe show is when he ripped out a goats balls w/his teeth. I was so flabberghasted that I dont recall the specific job.
@@TeaParty1776 He talks about it here btw ruclips.net/video/r-udsIV4Hmc/видео.html
interesting stuff.
I’ve worked in the trades all my life and loved working and made a good living. On the other hand, I’m 67 years old and my body is wrecked.
It's not all from the physical labor though, the crap they put in the food we eat is a major contributor.
@@Rundark- No it's the physical labor jobs that hurt people not the food.
It's not normal to do hard physical labor and to have your body not break down.
That's my exact story also - I've made a good living and it's been very satisfying - but every joint in my body hurts all the darned time.
@Ghost-fe1vp the guys I work with eat garbage junk food around the clock.... it's not just the labor... before the modern era some men did crueling labor into their 60s.. labor will eventually wear you out, but good diet helps heal and slow that damage...
@@jackdelane Op said 67 and u mentioned 60 as if that counters it?
This is a good honest and frank discussion without all the regular talking points. Very much appreciated!
You're Fucking crazy if you think these aren't the regular talking points.
The down turn in trades was not when shop class was taken out of high school, it was when companies stopped training people.
The people who used to get into trades didnt enjoy school traditionally, wonder why forcing people to attend more school and having to pay doesnt seem to be working.
Agreed! When I was in SkillsUSA-VICA, I gave a speech once to my state convention decrying the post-secondary trades education landscape. In my opinion, it's great to give the kids training but leaving adults without industrial training after high school is the flaw that hasn't been corrected.
@@BigBlack81 These problems are all by design. Until people swallow that bitter pill, nothing will happen to change the issue.
I don't think I've ever regretted listening to a Mike Rowe interview.
Mike Rowe is an embodiment of Americana. A symbol of the best our culture created. He's what we should all aspire to surround ourselves with, and become ourselves. He's in great shape in his early sixties, he's experienced the world, and has a very balanced perspective. He actively listens, he never pauses to search for words, he's coherent, incredibly positive, he's incredibly well spoken, and he measures each word coming out of his mouth. Obviously people listen when he speaks, he commands respects.
Focusing on his phrasing and how he interacts with his interviewer while listening to him makes you a better communicator.
I was in the military for 10 years and have been in the civilian workforce for the past 3 years and these two worlds are MILES apart from one another. The military has training, structure, opportunity, benefits, community, and a sense of purpose and the civilian side virtually has none of that.
It's been a good 30 years since I stopped wearing the old Salad Suit, and I still miss it. There is no job that I have had since that compares.
@@jenniferwagner4595 no there’s not. I was running my own program at 21 years old and now at 33 I’m at the bottom of the barrel being managed by pot heads who don’t even know the job their supposed to be managing.
Military folk have it better, and dare I say easier, as long as someone is willing to work hard.
W2 are suckers in every country, gotta be self employed to make it
@@jackjack4412 Hard work is easy, the brain can be molded to the trade, the body shaped for the labor, but without respect from the communities that rely on it, why subject yourself to it?
Starting my adult life in HVAC 10 years ago I realized that as hard as I worked, the pay was abysmal for the amount of effort and danger. I was making $12 an hour getting dirty when I quit and got a job working retail that was at least cleaner that paid the same. Now I work in IT 10 years later and make x4 that.
A lot of blue collar jobs USED to pay a lot better, for doing less work, and those who did them could retire fairly early and get a good pension. Nowadays.... As you say, in return for killing yourself you barely get squat.
I feel it comes down to how much work a person is prepared to do. If I could choose between digging trenches 8 hours a day for $50,000 a year or sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day for $50,000 a year, I would choose the desk job.
Perhaps.... I'd hope to find, or create, a combo of your scenario.
Hard labor at digging for 8hrs straight... will surely wear out the body over time 😒
Similarly, sitting n sitting for 8hrs a day, over time...is also very unhealthy to the body. Blood pools in the ankles - if a data entry job... you'll soon get carpal tunnel in both wrists. A stagnant body, at home or work will make you sick, on Rxs...and die young.
I'd rather like 4hrs digging (any job you move around in) and then 4 hrs at a desk - each day.
That's the balance a body n mind needs.
Or one of the "work from home 100k jobs" that everyone boasts about
Laborers realizing in a country with price gouging health care, that trading your body for money may not make sense finacially
This is a huge one… nobody can afford to work hard when they cant anymore
The government tells me I can afford a premium of $900/month. It's a policy I can not use because the deductibles are not affordable. THANK OBUMMER. I never asked for this, yet by law, I'm forced into this $hitty system. Does anyone know a work-around?
@@winniecash1654not trying to be an asshole, but could you please explain to me how that was caused by Obama? I'm actually curious.
Personally, I've had to use Medicaid a couple of times and was incredibly thankful for its existence. My current employer doesn't offer health insurance though and I am exempt from Medicaid due to making too much now. I pay $1,000/month premium with a $5,000 deductible now.
Due to insane stress from work around their refusal to pay any overtime while forcing me to work 60 hours/week and on-call 24/7 (I am an hourly contractor, not salary), I experienced something called vasovagal syncope and collapsed to the ground several times before someone called 911 and an ambulance took me to the ER. I'm now in debt $4,000 from the experience. At least I only have $1,000 left before I meet the deductible, so I've got that going for me which is nice.
@cmorche Obama's (un)affordable health care forced everyone to get insurance which costs through the roof. Before the so-called affordable Healthcare act my insurance cost $400/month with low deductibles. The price has more than doubled.
@@winniecash1654 Winnie here sees obumma care for exactly what it was. I've calculated that thanks to that third world tier "care" that we were mandated to get, my wife and I have spent about 150,000$ since it was enacted, and have, to my knowledge never taken a dime out of the system, as we are healthy people. We could have purchased a home with the amount of money that was basically stolen from us for other people's benefit. When I lost my job, I actually got fined by the IRS for not having insurance and at a time when I needed that tax return for literally the first time in my life, they kept it in penalties so that "unfortunate" people could have free rides. I'd have been better off having got fired.
I remember industry design and metal works being one of my favourite classes. The teacher was incredible, and I learned so many life skills I use today. It baffles me that it does not exist in the school I went to anymore.
It's sad my metal shop class vanished too and annoyingly it was an opportunity only to those of a better income bracket. I just got lucky and was considered part of that district.
@@meh4062 This is so interesting! It was the opposite at my school where all the bad kids went, and all the rich kids went into sports haha.
The jobs went away in 1990 when I was 9 years old. You’ll are just talking about it now???
Actually, it started in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Before you were born. Google "productivity vs wages" and look at the graph. The numbers are pretty clear. Reaganomics was a well thought out full court press. The public policies of the Chicago school. The FED mandate was changed to promote "full employment". Full employment is a euphemism for suppressing wages to push up demand for labor. When wages go up the FED rases interest rates and causes a recession and unemployment pushes wages down. Wink wink nod nod. The corporate raiders became enforcers of the new world order for fun and profit.
By the 1990s, most of the wage suppression mechanisms were up and running. I can see why you would think that.
Sheesh, you're old.
@@donklee3514Off shoring, out-sourcing, and rising immigration levels all started in the 60's and then gradually rose each subsequent year, then peaked in the 2000's, only declining essentially because of the '08 recession and the coof saga of the early 2020's.
@@ryanjacobson2508 It is interesting to me that you think the 60s are when it started. The 60s are when the oligarch started getting nervous about the "radical Keynesians" gaining prominence in academic circles. They started funding think tanks to devise a plan to control the threat. Milton Freedman and the Chicago school of economics was their solution. By the late 70s they were taking over the business schools and higher education in the process. The monetarist blitzkrieg was on. By the time Reaganomics was instituted by Author Laffer and Freedman and the rest of the Chicago boys it was pretty much over for the science of economics.
How can the monetarists be wrong most of the time and still maintain credibility?
The decline in public trust of government is something the country’s founders would have loudly applauded.
That's probably not actually true tbh. The founders weren't a bunch of brain dead libertarians.
Some of them, others (like one in particular who in the last decade had a broadway musical made about him) would've called us deplorable degenerates for it. And there probably were a few who would call us deplorable degenerates, laugh, then join in on our degeneracy (lookin at you Ben Franklin)
@@misterrichardc to be fair to Hamilton as a founder he should be moved to the $2 bill, Jackson taken off the twenty with Jefferson moved to it, and then John Adams placed on the ten.
@@misterrichardc oh shit they actually got the Harriet replacement approved? Out of anyone not a president and not connected to the founders i think she's a good choice. I like your list, but id keep Ben on the hundo, and Grant on the 50, since Grant had the unfortunate job of being president rebuilding after the Civil war, Ben because his party lifestyle perfectly fits the party lifestyle associated with $100 bills.
@@misterrichardc make a grand great again lmfao
I’m a handy man also have a background in audiovisual as a stage technician and drive trucks in the fall for harvest. Dirty job’s definitely inspired me as a teenager for cool jobs that no one wants to do that pay quite well.
I am in that cohort, high school graduate who went on to get into an apprenticeship for elevator repair electrical union. Got paid to learn, no debt accumulated, climbed the ladder to the top rung. Great pay, benefits, pension…. I love what I do, and am better off than almost everyone I know from my childhood that went to college.
One of my sisters got her PhD in history, and is now paying back her student loans with her Social Security money. She been paying them for nearly 50 years, and she will never be able to pay them off short of winning the lottery.
I graduated high school with a 1.2 GPA, and went in the trades as an electrician straight out of high school. Where they paid me (granted it was only $2.25/hr starting out) while I was being trained. No student loans. And eventually I used my position as an electrician to move in to a controls engineering position.
There's a life lesson in this somewhere.
Possibly. But there are plenty of history majors that are in lucrative fields as well.
The economy is fluid, and you have to know which waves to ride
I also think discussions of this type tend to forget other college options. I retired 3 years ago at age 59. I went to a community college right after HS ( I had neither the ambition or funding to go for a bachelors as my dad was basically sick and older when I was growing up than my older sibs experienced) and obtained a marketing degree.
I used it as a door opener to show what I could do. My first job out of college was starting as an Asst Mgr of a chain shoe store. 4 weeks in this job we got news that the big brass from the main office were visiting. This was about 2 weeks before Christmas when malls were still crazy busy for the holidays. I was scheduled until 10 pm one night and my manager who was still living in a hotel since transferring to our store shortly before I was hired. He decided to stay late and redo all the displays and do a deep clean for the entire store. I volunteered to stay and he said, "I can't pay you" & I said, " I am not asking to be paid extra, the work needs done". About 2 am my manager said I should go home, so I asked if he was close to being done. He wasn't, so I stayed. We worked until 4:30 am (I started at noon that day and he started at 9 am). AS we were locking up he said "I hate to ask you this but: and I knew he wanted me to open in the morning. I knew he was working every day, all day for over a month, so I told him I would open. He always treated me well and respected me for it.
I used that type of work ethic in later years also. I worked for 25 years as a branch manager/loan officer for a bank where I swept the sidewalk & shoveled show and was responsible for building maintenance, even cleaning toilets sometimes between janitor visits. I always told my staff, we all pitch in for work beyond our job descriptions.
I even worked 6 years as a QC guy at a 3rd tier Honda and Toyota seat manufacturer. I was weak at best in engineering, so I just worked harder. I have always tried to do what it took. I have always hated the term "That's not my job". One more perspective.
Mike Rowe... nothing but love and respect, brother! I'm a professional but I grew up in a home on a Blue Collar imcome. My old man was a Tool and Die Maker. One of those trades that is seriously struggling now. He was an old school master mechanic. His brother was one too and his father, my grandpa, was a Tool and Die Maker in Hungary. Actually, in the 1910s, our govt sponsored him emigrating because we needed the skilled labor back then. Back when we cared about our immigration system and made sure those coming would add to society!
It wasn't an easy trade but its an extremely important trade. Building plastic injection and vacuum molds. Dies to cut steal parts. Building tools and jigs for manufacturing. I use to help out in his shop when I was a kid and witnessed him doing some pretty amazing stuff. I also learned... it wasn't a trade i was cut out for. Luckily, I caught on to computers in the 80s and became a communications engineer. Which... I'm much more suited for....lol.
What Mike Rowe does and is doing....he's damn near a Saint in my book. His work is changing peoples lives and changing them for the better. People with a better life makes a better society and country! Thank you... Mike Rowe! You're a good egg!
Tool and Die is making a bit of a come back because companies finally realized it costs just as much to get quality work from China.
@@GeneralChangOfDanang That's great to hear and not a surprise...at all! My old man was considered a dinosaur in the field...even back in the 80s when I was working in his shop asa teenager. A customer could bring him a part and he could build a mold or die around it in his head. Saw him do some amazing things. Was kind of my Mark Twain quote moment. Twain said..."when I was 17 I couldn't believe how ignorant my father was. But, by the time I turned 21, I was amazed at how much the man learned in just 4 short years.". Always loved that quote...I was just s bit younger...lol.
It's an honest trade and once you become a journeyman... a good paying job. You get to work on interesting things as well. I would strongly recommend it to anyone young person that shows a mechanical aptitude.
There's also a problem with the family. How many parents are showing their kids how to do things?
My grandpa was a carpenter. My Dad was a carpenter. I love fixing and building but I was never taught how to. I'm thankful to those who make videos on line that tell you step by step how to do something so I can learn .
It's been my experience that skilled trades can be tricky to learn and require a lot of focus to do well. Once you know them, you're under constant pressure to work overtime, you get tired, make mistakes, and get injured. When I entered the workforce 45 years ago the trade schools had waiting lists, I've known many skilled tradesmen who just burn out. I was lucky and got hired by a big company, I was promoted to assistant foreman in charge of new hires and I couldn't believe the number of guys who couldn't master anything more complicated than a shovel.
And this is due to the gap Mike keeps preaching. If more people were working in that trade, they wouldn't be overworked. On the same token, if there are more, the pay might be slightly lower.
Not true. The Navy trains them VERY well. Thoroughly. Overtime? What is that? In the Army, I worked 100-hour weeks back-to-back and pulled duty every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day for the first four years.
Depends on the trade. Some are obviously more difficult than others and some are more dangerous. For example underwater welding is an extremely skilled job and incredibly dangerous. Which is why you can make in 6 weeks what most college graduates make in 3 years. But obviously there are no second chances and if you don't make it, you don't make it. And that is on top of having to get the skill level.
Now on the other side of the coin, you could become a piano tuner. You will be hired by everyday individuals working in air conditioned enviroments. You are not going to die tuning a piano. You are not going to loose a finger. And in 45 minutes to 1 hour you can make 150-250 usd. And with how few there are, generally speaking, scheduels are booksed and most work however much they want to work and pick and choose who they tune for because they have that luxuary. It essentially requires you to find an individual who knows the skill and to apprentice under them free of charge until you go out into the working world. But that being said, it is a skill that requires one to dedicate a lot of time practicing before you can start making any money
And of course you can go into carpentry which in my area involved a high level of tradesmen from other countries who have devalued the job. So you are working at roughly 25 to 30 an hour in the heat and cold in a stressful environment. At least in my local area. So its dangerous, doesn't pay well, and you can only do it for a few years.
So all in all not all trades are created equal. Supply and demand are a factor as always and trades are high right now because there are not enough of them so prices go up because people are willing to pay it. Obviously if everyone goes into the trades and ignores college, then the opposite problem will happen. All any of us can do is to look at the market the way ti is and pick a path that works for our area with the amount of skill you have and risk you are willing to undergo.
@@zackeryhardy9504 Ah, bull. I started off on your side, then you lost me with non-facts. You CAN do carpentry all your life IF you are good at it. My dad did, till age 67 and retirement. Heck, his brother - my uncle - I personally saw at 80 years old up on a new construction porch roof (that HE had designed) nailing it down. It looked beautiful; better than I could do.
Trades are no more "aging" than any other profession IF you are smart and IF you are good at your skills. I would have no hesitation to hire a 75-year old welder. I actually DID hire a 75-year old heavy equipment operator a couple months ago. He and his work ethic and quality were superb. I paid him in cash. Plus a bonus, for the work.
Are you in the trades for at least five years or more, or are you just stabbing in the dark and guessing? By the way, PRISONERS should be trained in the underwater welding. If they want to save their life track, that is the way to do it. They have already been risk-takers.
That was your bad experiance that is not the norm !
On the Great Depression topic, my grandfather advised me, in his time he was making more money than the branch manager of the bank of Italy in his central California town.
And he did it as a dust bowl okie who walked to ca.
As a young child he advised me “you can always make money if you are willing to work”
He also advised me that during the Great Depression there were many able bodied men who were adverse to and refused to do physical labor.
I could go on but my grandfather deserves his own channel
In the 1930s, when the Soviets showed a propaganda film about poor US farmers in the Depression, there were riots in theatres beccause poor Americans had cars and shoes.
@@TeaParty1776 Poor Americans as a rule most certainly did _not_ have cars before, during, or after the Depression, unless they had suffered a precipitous fall from middle class to poverty and had acquired the car during that earlier period of affluence. A great many of them don't have cars now.
You can always make money and the government will always find a way to take it away.
@@kbar3612 I visited Washington just to be near my money.
-Bob Hope
@@hughmac13 Search "dust bowl okies"
for photos of 1930s poor people w/cars. 300 years of capitalism is vastly more productive than 300,000 years of prior history. But,of course, its not the Garden Of Eden, so you can rationalize your absurd hatred of it.
The days of the company man are over. It's sink or swim, every man for himself. Do what you can, whatever you can. Fuck the haters.
As a Practicing CPA, I work a lot with the trades. So, I agree college isn't necessary to be successful unless what you want to do requires a degree. I had all five of my children get two years of college and then told them to go find something they enjoy doing. Worst case they come back in a few years, with a lot of world experience and can finish their degree. Only one got a degree and those that didn't are making considerably more than the one that did. We are doing are children a huge disservice.
Having 5 kids is doing the world a huge disservice..
@@michaeljeffery7466Depends on how smart and morally responsible they are. Get their IQs checked.
The problem is no one wants to date a plumber until he's a millionaire. And even then they are grossed out anyways. They will just go shopping with the money.
You almost never see a hot blue collar wife 🤣🤣🤣😂😂
@@caesarsalad1170 Most places probably. Where I live, regular dudes get hot wives all the time. A places that are on the rise where labor still pays good and women are not yet hyper-communists, real men can still make good.
That honestly depends on how the plumber is outside of work and what type of plumbing they do. I say this as a plumber and seeing what my trade marries. Honestly nurse seems to be the most common spouse job.
I think that's a bit cynical and detached from reality. I'm in the trades (irrigation) and my friends that are married found quality women and, yes, they are attractive. Many own their own businesses now, and therefore make significantly more money, but all were married before they branched off to do their own thing.
@AFGSp1ck , the secret to finding a woman who wants to marry you because she loves you and isn't marrying you for the money is to treat all women as fellow adults and be friends with all women.
Then when you are interested in a specific woman, you can ask your lesbian and female asexual friends to tell you what the woman is saying about you. The lesbians and female asexuals aren't interested in marrying you. So, they won't have the goal of bad-mouthing the woman so that they can get you to marry them instead.
I've seen a lot of people (men and women) who think with their sex organs instead of their brains when looking for a spouse. Also, I've seen a lot of men who treat a woman well only when they want to have sex with her or want to marry her.
Last point:
Some people say that "men want respect, but women want love."
Look up "respect" in the dictionary. Respect means to value the person.
So, how many woman are saying that they don't want to be valued? All humans, no matter their gender, want respect.
My experience in college was very different than the Mike's and interviewer's experiences, even though it was around the same time. I started college in 1978. I majored in Civil Engineering. I can tell you that when I got out, I was qualified to be a civil engineer. I didn't go to college to become a more well-rounded person (though I think I achieved that as well). I can tell you that during freshman year, as myself and my other engineering student friends were deciding which engineering field to enter, we all spent a fair bit of time discussing the job prospects of each of the engineering fields. Studying engineering was like going to trade school -- we did it with the goal of getting a good, well-paying job when we graduated. And that is exactly what we got when we graduated.
How it is that kids spend $250k on a degree in something like gender studies without having realized that the job prospects for such a degree are terrible ("would you like fries with that?") is baffling to me.
And, no, I wasn't locked into civil engineering as a career. I've been working as a software engineer for over 30 years, the last ~20 at a biotech research lab.
This was my experience, as well. I started college in 1980, originally in engineering, subsequently in comp. sci. I was there specifically to acquire the skills to get a good paying, relatively secure job. None of this "follow your dream" nonsense or "become a well rounded person" abstractness. Don't get me wrong, I didn't pursue a field I disliked, but it was more like something Mike said in this interview: "figure out something you're good at and learn how to like it". I did change careers in my late 40s, but in many ways, that was a luxury afforded to me by the success of my first career.
I’m 25 years old, and I have a CAD degree for vehicle design in the “Motor City”. Nobody wants to pay me more than $20 an hour for a degree and 3 years experience in the career. I was smart and paid for my classes as I went so I have no debt, which is the only reason I can afford housing. This market is absolutely brutal right now, and the rising cost of living isn’t helping.
I know I chose my own fate, but I was told my entire childhood to go to college and obviously the college I went to was working with the “big 3” in Detroit so they were telling me I would get a good job too. The large companies are currently laying off their engineers. I’m honestly kind of stuck and I’m wondering if you guys had any wisdom for me. Thanks.
I work in the skilled trades, and it's nothing glamorous. Work isn't always steady, and layoffs are common. You're a means to an end. Prepare to travel away from home for months at a time on your own dime. Common working conditions are hot, noisy, and filthy. Don't expect to have a comfy lifestyle with a nice house and toys that doesn't require debt. You're always chasing money at the cost of your personal life.
As an artist with a live-in studio, i always worked at home . This is true of many artists and craftsmen.
A great profession not impacted by the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Reminds me if the book. "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Mat Crawford. Was reading with my 7 year old daughter last night, finished with her appropriate book, and decided to pull out, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Just opened it to a page a started reading. Good stuff.
A few years ago, at my white collar job, workers were building a brick wall out by our parking lot. I walked by this construction over a period of time as I made way to my car to drive home. It started as a sloped grassy area to be approximately 5 foot tall and 35 foot long. I would see the workers quickly and repeatedly pick up a brick, "butter" it with mortar, slap it on top an existing brick, give a few taps and wipes with a trowel then pick up the next brick and repeat the process. When it was finally completed I looked at it from all angles and was amazed at how straight and true the wall was in every direction. I could imagine had I built this wall it would have curved, twisted, sloped, leaned and more than likely fallen over after only a few feet!
An individual without much education made an average of $84K adjusted for inflation in 1930. Big difference from today where it's in the $50K range. My son is in the skilled trades after a 4 year heavy equipment degree. He makes 40K annually currently. Not worth the college for sure. We're all merely serfs to the Chinese and WEF at this point. Appreciate all your efforts Mike. I'm your biggest fan.
Mikes voice enabled him to accidently stumble into being an excellent entertainer, actor, and perhaps most important, a mentor for all men and women.
He was an opera singer before, so he literally already had a career built around his voice (people paying to hear him).
He's just an entertainer, people thinking he's actually doing anything for anyone is just pathetic.
Fellas, this was a world class conversation and I feel privileged to have listened. Actually, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about our future as a people, and about my own future. I hope this video finds as many eyes and ears as possible.
I am a blue collar worker, takes 5 years apprenticeship to become a journeyman at what I do (Electrical), and let me tell you that there is no actual "shortage" of workers.
There is a shortage of good paying jobs with good benefits and work conditions! The anti union sentiment destroyed the middle class, with trickle down economics, having faith in the good heart of corporations to take care of the workers!
Workers should unite and leverage their labor to get better lives! Don't drink the kool-aid! Especially from CEOs, because all they answer to are the stock share holders! If they can have our labor for free, they ll take it! Never take for granted any of the workers rights that our forefathers fought and died for! And never be lenient and complacent! Organize!
As you can see that blue collar jobs in states where union presence is strong, the wages, benefits AND work conditions are better for both union and non union workers, meanwhile in "Right to work" states, where unions and labor is weakened, the conditions and wages are GARBAGE!
A raising tide lifts all boats!
Solidarity forever! 💪🇺🇲✊️⚡️💯
Yes. These stooges would never take a real risk and use their platform to support working people. Just keep shoveling bodies into the workforce, sensationalizing and glorifying the kind of work that ruins your life while they sit back and make their mint on useless commentary. When you talk to subcontractors, not owners, every single one will tell you how many thousands they have had stolen from them in wages, how they have been denied unemployment or disability, and how they have been held responsible for their GC's mistakes.
Union in my state pays poorly. Only use i see for them is if you want to work less than 40 hours a week thier decent. Electrical unions pay well but you have to start over to join them.
$160k / year as a welder is top 1% of earners in the field. It's absolutely ridiculous to float that number out there as achievable, much like he's criticizing college degrees as a means of achieving wealth in future employment. 90% of welders make less than $68k a year. In many states, 68k a year for a single income family with multiple children is barely scraping by. There is a reason people are attracted to other careers that don't plateau at $60k / year. I appreciate his nuanced thinking on blue vs white collar paradigms and the value he places on a liberal arts education for becoming a well-rounded person, but most of the trades can't deliver the type of earnings he keeps touting.
Thanks so much for making that point! I thought inflation had really gotten that ridiculous in the two decades since I got a job. Or maybe it was Bay Area versus Midwest.
I worked as a pipefitter for Exxon and every welder I knew made well over $100k. This was back 15-20 years ago too...
@@orangesaturnno, they did not. If they are willing to travel full time which is basically sacrificing everything important in life then their best years where certainly over 100k, but it's feast or famine. Two or three good years need to be able to fiance a couple bad years that will inevitably follow. Their annual average over time is much MUCH lower than the 100k they did once or twice
Wages far lower today than 15-20 years ago. Thank an open border.
@@buggyridge Why wouldn't we blame the employers for paying less?
I would say toxic work places with toxic bosses and constantly moving goalposts have alot to do with why I hardly work now. That and the small fact of non existant payrises for decades...
Fantastic and needed discussion. Thank you, gentlemen.
That voice tho. He still got it.
Well paying and dirty dont usually go in the same job description these days.
You need your paperwork FIRST
THEN apprentice into trades
I hate it when women ho into some of them
They need men first
I believe that the loss of full service gas stations curtailed a massive amount of teenagers from having part time jobs that teach everything from mechanical ability to social skills in having to communicate with customers.
The only way to have full service gas stations is to ban people from pumping their own gas, which isn't a popular idea with the free market crowd.
@@greywolf7577Still banned in certain states?
@@greywolf7577 People don't like dry counties, or state owned and operated only liquor stores but still many of them exist, and in fact there are some states that have only full service by law!
Sounds good
Way too many teens:physical gas stations though 🤷♂️
High school jobs in general. Back when I was in high school all the boys, and alot of girls, had jobs, had their own money, had their own cars (used). I wasnt allowed to work. My parents kept the girls home on lock down when not at school. The boys went EVERYWHERE. They went around the state fishing, to amusement parks, on vacation to Canada with friends. I was denied that and feel cheated. Encourage all your kids to get to work. Theyre going to need that experience.
I love this conversation!!! The topic is extremely important, and you two are witty and entertaining.
I was skeptical about viewing a ninety five minute video on one sitting. Prove it to me, my brain said... Nick and Mike delivered. This was outstanding, and I enjoyed how Mike Rowe would always bring previous talking points back full circle.
I'm shocked that the blue-collar darling from network TV avoided mentioning that working people are being rung out like rags, and have been for almost 40 years. One last drop as the bucket overflows.
It's almost like Mike Rowe is just LARPing and he never actually gave a shit about blue collar workers outside of empty posturing and whining about young people.
Because he’s funded by Koch and fox network, that’s why. If he dared mentioned that he’d be going against what his masters are telling him.
Oh, boo hoo, little girl. You should have been in the Army and done our hours. No holiday pay and no overtime pay.
@@davidb2206 you are proving my point
Mike Rowe working man cosplayer. He excelled in theater and graduated from a university and went directly into media and tv. Dudes as blue collar as kid rock..
And I LIKE Mike Rowe in terms of his ability to be smirk funny, if not outright funny at times. His support for trade schools is something that I, a trade schooler and tradie all my life, LOVE and respect. BUT I NEVER FORGET THIS POINT: MIKE AIN'T BLUE.
The theater kid is the one who gets the message out there. The great adventurer goes unnoticed without a bard to sing songs about him.
He has never claimed otherwise. It would of course take a journalist with a theater background to see the value in presenting to a geeater audience an ignored aspect of America, the blue collar worker.
the United States of America does not exist this is blue planet animal planet only predators and prey exist we have created an interspecies food chain children at the bottom children have always been used as chattel property it's about time we put children 1st children 2nd children 3rd then happiness appears will emancipate ourselves from cruelty Let Freedom Ring Children Singing Laughter Fill The Air! -Dream of MLKJr. I doubt it in my lifetime it's already too late everyone is poisoned blue planet is poisoned the future for children dark bleak dank
Preach
I still think alot of it is simply pay. Most roofers can’t afford the roof they’re repairing. Most carpenters can’t afford the house they’re building. Most mechanics at a dealership can go afford the car they’re repairing.
Absolutely wonderful discussion of our history and our current world. This program is an example of what we should be watching and listening to as we trudge through life. I am going to send it to my four grandchildren.
As a 20 + year Master Plumber (btw takes as long to become a Master Plumber as it does to become a Doctor) I find the Arrogant Ignorance of people who have no idea how the world works quite alarming..
if we sprinkle tenderness loyalty and compassion onto ourselves as a species family 8 billion cooperate procreate I guarantee they'll be peace Let Freedom Ring Children Singing Laughter Fill The Air! -Dream of MLKJr.
I'm 66 I must admit I really don't give a shit anymore most times.
20 years ago when i graduated high school there was such a push for college and vocational school was generally looked down upon. Luckily i listened to my parents who suggested i go to community college to get my basic credits. It was cheaper and i wouldnt be saddled with a lot of debt. I failed miserably and dropped out. I wish i had gone to a vocational school. But i ended up getting my cdl and keeping my nose to the grindstone.
Mike Rowe, as an opera singer and TV host, is a real authority on this subject.
I mean, he has been on the jobsite 🤷
I know right. Mike is a theatre kid trolling us.
Literally only opened this video to say something along those lines. Tyfys 😂
@@X862go So has the door dash driver whats your point
Yeah, a guy that's run a foundation for a decade and a half for this subject, has done many jobs and talked with lots of people is absolutely useless on this subject
Absolutely amazing conversation guys! Look forward to seeing more!
Even with all the nasally breathing Lol this was incredible and inspiring to say the least!! Thank!! 😁
INFINITELY INTERESTING .... as a retired Merchant Mariner and airplane mechanic, I am ALL IN with MIKE'S attitude towards work
I am retired and very bored, will prob go back to working on airplanes at 71 !
Retirement should not be boring, it needs to have meaning
This was a really good and thought provoking conversation.
Love Mike and have respected him for decades. I like the interviewer as well, but I wish Reason TV would index these vids into chapters for these long forms. I'm 67, and my first project ever was a silver ID bracelet I made in shop for my first GF. I had to learn how to use a lathe and drill press and stamping machines. 40 years later, I retired as a Managerial Product/Project Manager from IBM. In between, I was a US Army construction engineer, a ditch digger, an apple picker, a data analyst, a college student, a technical writer and finally retired and became a 200 dollar an hour consultant. I can attribute this all to that one and only shop class that I ever had in HS, and to my college professors, who told me I was not really an academic, so don't hide here. Keep up the good work Mike, ur the only one left on the line in this regard.
Our high school where I live in Bayonne, NJ use to offer, so many great courses but no more. It’s such a shame, LPN nursing which I graduated from at 42 years old! Mechanics, iron workers, hair dressing etc . I’m sure there are som I don’t remember. So sad but I can see what you are saying. Keep going Mike you’re doing a great job!
The irony here is two college educated guys having an intellectual discussion about "blue collar" work that never happens in "blue collar" circles.
Actually, we "Blue Collar" workers do in fact, have these discussions. It comes up due to the perception of our jobs by both Pop culture and the entitled snowflakes that think our jobs and WORK generally, are somehow beneath them! Who's going to keep the lights on when everyone's avoiding Blue Collar work? We're talking about this topic alot.
Unlike the uni educated trade workers can usually find work.
@@attilathorbjornsson1519 Well I've been construction for over 40 years, and I'll have to disagree with your comment. My observations have been to the contrary.
@@attilathorbjornsson1519 Exactly.
@@attilathorbjornsson1519so you’re standing around talking instead of working?
He did a job for a day. He changed jobs almost every day. It's the monotony that's the killer. That's the dirt
Mernotiny?
@@flowgangsemaudamartoz7062 monotony. This armchair warrior's got better things to do than learn how to spell
That's why I love working in my hard-labour job agency! I got and still get as much variety as Mike Rowe did! I'm also getting so many various skills, that I'm confident in doing almost every trade. In some cases, I work better than the tradesmen that studied in the community college.
Great conversation. Enjoyed this. Thank you.
What a great conversation. Thank you.
My husband has only a HS education but he took all the shop/trade classes, auto classes, classes no longer in schools. The Air Force correctly put him in airplane maintenance. After the AF, he learned and did building maintenance, became an awesome Chief Building Engineer without a college education and one of the most respected and known Chief Building Engineer running High Rise Buildings in a major city. No college degree but he ran circles around people with Building degrees due to his experience. He accomplished a great career that he loved. There isn't anything he can't fix in our home, saving us tons of money in home maintenance over the years. He helps family, friends with maintenance. He holds contractors to standards and codes when we use them. He taught me as well, so I know more than most women and many men now.
How has the sex life been throughout the years? Have you ever stepped out of the relationship? Don't worry, I don't know you and I am NOT here to judge. I'm just curious.
@jackjack4412 why would you ask this??? wth
So true, college isn't for everyone and not needed by everyone. 50+ years ago I was a lousy student and my dad put me into "Refrigeration mechanic school" From there I went into air Conditioning and joined the Union where I never spent more than 4 days out of work. Today I am retired and getting over $100,000. All my friends constantly ask me for advice and help as they are all pretty useless at fixing anything, so I am the go-to guy for all kinds of things. On top of my feeling of wellbeing for making life comfortable to many people I have a feeling of self-confidence that nobody can buy.
I'm 66-year-old black male 40 year family doctor how University College of medicine 1983 all of medicine can be placed on 4 sheets of paper used wisely by every single soul .... I learned how to be a good doctor understanding reproductive physiology from college-educated teachers in the 1960s Mobile Alabama apparently I'm the only one in existence. but because the hatred is so great no one gives a shit about children's lives so 1-2-3.
Put grandmothers in charge of the family
everyone takes care themselves
everyone can pursue happiness for free
We will then emancipate ourselves from ignorance hatred vengeance racist and witness blue planet Majesty got a lot of work to do lots and lots of work to do and it will be fun horseback riding water guns all your needs met for free medications everything for free just takes a little sweat equity!
Wow! What a mitzvah. Nice, informative interview.
Great interview, thanks for sharing.
In 1991 I started work as a junior radioactive material handler through a job from unemployment. It was dirty dangerous but it paid well for the time. The main thing is the wages. The wages must keep up with the cost of living or we will have a revolution. Pick up a history book. You want the good ole days then go back to what taxes were in 1955.
Mike Rowe is my childhood tv hero! Gave me motivation and the drive to work all my temp hard-labour jobs with love and respect. Middle-aged now, master of none, and Jack of all trades.
The discussion was awesome. The value of a liberal education in the traditional sense is invaluable. College is about exploring, not trying to fit a stovepipe. I got a liberal education from the USAF Academy where I changed majors three times. That education has been a bedrock to learning. As a cook today, doing the trades I have no regrets at where I have gone. I love the melding of education with trade success. You have to have a little bit of both to succeed.
fair enough but you don't need to go to an institution to have a liberal-style education. You just have to have an open mind and never-ending love of learning new things.
@@hengineer Agree in part. I think getting a liberal education as a young person gives them an opportunity to chose where they want to go. An open mind with curiosity can accumulate the same foundation, but it will take some time along with mentoring. Not everyone needs to attend college, totally on board with vocational education. Sadly, much of that has been eliminated in our high schools.
@@hengineer A liberal-style education is a bit of a myth. Higher education produces widgets for industrial consumption. You are a product built to the specifications of the employer class.
Liberal education is a complete waste of money, high school covered many of the subjects my lib college tried to force me to pay for. The students and teachers were dim compared to highschool too.
Why would you want any thing to do with the world liberal !The education system today is a democrat indoctrination mill!
Thank you Mike for all you do.
Reading this comment section as a degree'd electrical engineer makes my head hurt. People don't want blue collar jobs? Yeah no kidding, it's a rough life when you do it day in and day out.
Often overlooked is the fact that the trades, much like law, medicine and engineering in the "higher professions", are inherited careers. That is, the successful electrician, plumber or carpenter that we know, likely was born to a highly successful electrician, plumber or carpenter.
If I were a plumber, I would be proud to have the highest shop rate in town. People value what they pay for.
And they might consider paying for what they value…
Amazing interview. Loved this
Deadliest Catch Made mike Rowe Voice Well respected Iconic VOICE in the media. Dirty Jobs Sealed it
Had a fender bender recently, all the body shops are weeks out for availability. I talked to one today he said most of the problem is because people retired and there aren’t enough people that want to learn the trade & work hard.
Ask him how much is he paying, if he has job posting, people applying, and he is interviewing.
Studies have shown most companies that complain like that while they have job postings. They aren't interviewing and hiring. In many cases they want slave labor and won't pay anyone. So when someone comes with a reasonable number, it is automatically too high in the shop's mind.
Like for some there is some cases of that. But then it gets into, you know x person is retiring in a few years. Why aren't you on a hunt for a replacement. Or was the shop so horrible that the person retired with no heads up.
Why doesn't the owner do the work? Because everyone else is supposed to do the work so he can cash the checks.
@@benjamindover4337 let’s unpack this bag of assumptions. I had talked to quite a few shops he most wouldn’t even give a estimate within a week’s time and none would get started before 2-3 weeks out. This man was will to eyeball a guesstimate for me so I didn’t need to wait for an idea of cost.
2. I don’t know if he was the owner, manager or just a worker that was also able to do estimates.
3. From the condition of his clothes and him cleaning off his hands when he came out of the shop to talk to me I assumed he was in the shop working as well.
4 this a small town shop, but when I lived in Tampa area at a large dealership the people that were in the auto body office and wrote up estimates didn’t help in the shop because they were busy doing the other important parts of the business, ordering parts and dealing with insurance companies. And besides what does that have to do with people understanding that college isn’t the only place to get a education that can lead to a great career OR the fact that it seems more difficult to find hardworking individuals.
He’s paying shit. Bodymen have wheels on their toolboxes for reasons
@@evan12697as do mechanics. Its a shitty industry to work in and is hard on the body. Its rare to see an old mechanic. I am 45 and my hands just dont work right anymore, difficult to hold tools. I get fatigued and cramped. My body is already wearing out. Back hurts from bending over car engines. Knees hurt from standing on concrete floors and kneeling down. I have a job now operating heavy equipment and i love it so much more than being a mechanic. I hate wrenching anymore
Show me what to work towards and I will do it. I see nothing but rot in our future. I will not contribute more to that than I have to in order to survive.
How about your own personal success? I am 45, never married, and work a full time job in addition to running the family farm. I want more for myself than "just surviving". I want to retire in at least 10 years, travel more and do what i enjoy.
What I don’t hear enough about is the problem of people working from home is the increased isolation. Isolation and loneliness have become a huge problem in our society and as much as people hate going into work, there is a sense of camaraderie and social interaction that we need to flourish. Yes, many will still have a good sense of community regardless of their work situation but more people today than ever have limited friendships and community interaction. For millions work is their only social outlet. So from a mental health standpoint, I’d argue it is better that we have more people reporting to work than working from home.
Great video,
Thanks.
The problem is as follows when it comes to what he says
1. These are HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY location base. For example, lets say if there is a large demand for plumbers in Texas. What is that going to do for someone in poverty living the next state over? And then even if the person isn't in poverty. Most people will pick staying with family vs moving to an unknown area and staying away from family.
2. Pay is horrible in most locations. Like you can cheery pick given jobs in given areas. Even in a 50 mile area. But again it goes back to 1. That is a highly location base thing. So not only you have location base jobs that might not be a match for where a given person is. But also the pay itself might be massively a mismatch. Like in this Mike cheery picks a given welder that makes a bit. But I personally know a number of welders that are barely able to make it by. They are making just better than min wage and they haven't seen a pay increase in over a decade. So the buying power is going down, they aren't getting paid more, and they are very near the point of might was well work at Walmart or McD and not deal with the liability.
3. He is making it out to be people are picking not doing this. But again it goes into pay, open jobs, and so on.
4. Companies saying there is an opening, but there really isn't. When I was 24 I applied to a metal shop for a QA job. I had all the require certs, degree, etc. But because I was too young, I was literally laughed out of the interview. Then there is studies showing majority of the job openings in blue and white collar are fake. They stay open to threaten current employees, to test how many people are looking for work, for investors, etc. Like some flat out tested it, 92% of the places that cry about "people don't want to work" they flat out didn't interview people who applied and refused to hire people who applied AND MET ALL REQUIREMENTS. The studies used fake resumes with fake names, and so on to test if it was race, sex, or what. No, they just weren't hiring while complaining no one wants to work for them.
5. Workplace abuse. They are pushing it as people are trying to stay away to stay away. But in reality, lower end jobs are HIGHLY known for abusing their workers. In many cases illegally or right on that line. Like there is stores where someone would get electrocuted, and the company fights paying for anything. There is many cases where manufacture workers are harassed to the point where they off themselves. One meat plant got in trouble for the managers gambling on if people would get covid and they went out of their way to cause them to get it. There is an entire case on this. Like it or not, this is the world we been in for some time.
19:00 they mention people flat out stopped looking for work. I can tell you why. When you go back to 2 (pay), and this is across virtually all jobs. We were lied to. For most, there is no retirement. Gov spending is out of control, each year they have to print more money to cover for their debts, pay isn't keeping up if it even does go up, and at this point. What is the point?
People are just going without a family. Flat out avoiding having kids and in many cases not even getting into a romantic relationship. A gun is $400 and if things get bad enough. It's far easier to end it. Note the gun is a metaphor. Take away the gun, and the thought is the same when the person looks at other methods.
Look at people off themself rate, physical fitness rates, and stuff like that. The reason for physical fitness is there is a thought. If I end things, then those around me will look down on the act as it is taboo. But if I eat unhealthy and am unhealthy. And then die from a heart attack or stroke. People won't look down on me. Same with smoking or drinking too much. The end result is the same, it just takes longer. And with this the family and people the person cares about doesn't look down on the dead person. There is a saying "Hoagie to the head". Instead of a gun it is a hoagie. But in this case it could be smoke, booze, or something else.
Anyways, the fault is in the economy and gov. Fix that and likely you will get people back to work. Keep screwing it up, and you get more of the hoagie to the head
Yeah I’m pretty far in the “given up” camp and I’m employed in the job/trade I’ve wanted since high school. My pay is mediocre, advancement is minimal, and there really doesn’t look to be any real benefit to looking for a job i hate just to get paid incrementally more and get even more of it stolen from me by the govt. Add to that the completely untenable idea of moving out on my own or getting a house… i mean fucking hell i need to move out buy property start a family etc etc but as it stands i could *maybe* afford the mortgage, stretch for the bills, and then when the tax bandit comes around every year I’ll just go deeper and deeper into the hole.
And mind here, I’m in a very small niche field and making great headway for myself and my trade. If i cant eek out a real living catering to a niche market in a major metropolitan area, how can anyone? Except for all the dudes with email jobs making 95k+ starting just because they went to the party schools and drank their way through a business degree for a startup Daddy gave the starting capital to…
@@evan12697So why do you stay,like honestly?
@@pathofresilience1796 I'm in the same camp as them but I don't have a job. People with my disability have a 85% unemployment rate purely because we are different.
Anyways, the reason why I haven't off myself is family. Like I help out and what not how I can. But as soon as they die or I get kicked out. That is my last day alive. Same with if the pain gets to be too much.
@@TheAIKnowledgeHub I was referring to job wise,not life wise buddy....
Good right up, but don't waste your time. Mike is bought and paid for.
I could listen to Mike 24/7. Why are there so few common sense men these days. He just knows the truth these days. Loved this interview
He's a trained performer, you know... Always be a bit skeptical.
@@shmutubeWhy wouldn't you be skeptical? What did you not agree with?
"I take all my advice from the ruling class and Hollywood."
@@Dustin-ux6fl Maybe it's the awkward dance Mike is doing to avoid the most important labor conversation we should be having. The collapse of reward, protection, incentives, and rights for working people.
Maybe it's that he sounds like a 16-year-old who does nothing but watch RUclips videos all day. "I heard Sam Harris say about Joe Rogan said about Robert Kennedy" bla bla bla, nobody fucking cares anymore what these talking heads are saying anymore. The writing is on the wall. If you live a life outside of the 'news' and podcasting (same thing), you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I got carried away here nothing against you dustin
Mike has developed a lot of insight during his career.
"I'm older than I've ever been." What a great line, even got a chuckle out of Nick.