Posted on 08/23/2017 1:46:11 AM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
“Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe had some choice words Tuesday night in response to a question he got accusing him of harboring “white nationalist” sympathies.
Rowe posted a question submitted to him on his Facebook page that accused the TV host’s advocacy for the skilled trades of amounting to anti-intellectualism, and therefore racism.
A man named Chuck Adkins asked, “One of the tenants of white nationalism is that college educated people are academic elitests. Comment? No? I’m not surprised. You never take a political stand because you don’t want to alienate anybody. Its bad for business. I get it. But there is a current of anti intellectualism in this country – promoted by Republicans. Those people love you, and they think your initiative is their initiative. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is kickin our ass academically.”
Rowe, a popular jovial TV personality, went off in a long, brutal response.
“Since we’re being candid, allow me to say how much I dislike your post. Everything about it annoys me – your smug and snarky tone, your appalling grammar, your complete lack of evidence to support your claims, and of course, the overarching logical fallacy that informs your entire position,” Rowe wrote. “What really bugs me though, is the fact that you’re not entirely wrong. It’s true; I haven’t shared any political opinions this week, in part anyway, because doing so might very well be ‘bad for business.'”
“What can I say? I work for half-a-dozen different companies, none of whom pay me to share my political opinions. I run a non-partisan foundation, I’m about to launch a new show on Facebook, and I’m very aware that celebrities pay a price for opening their big fat gobs. Gilbert Gottfried, Kathy Griffin, Colin Kaepernick, Milo Yiannopoulos…even that guy from Google who just got himself fired for mouthing off. There’s no getting around it – the first amendment does not guarantee the freedom to speak without consequences. And really, that’s fine by me,” he continued.
“So no – I’m not going to share my personal feelings about Charlottesville, President Trump, or the current effort to remove thousands of statues of long dead soldiers from the public square. Not just because it’s ‘bad for business,’ but because it’s annoying. I can’t think of a single celebrity whose political opinion I value, and I’m not going to assume the country feels any differently about mine,” Rowe wrote. “So, rather than blow myself up, or chime in with all the obvious observations about the cowardly scum in the pointy hats, I’m going to talk instead about my belief that comments like yours pose a far greater threat to the future of our country than the existence of a memorial to Thomas Jefferson, or a monument to George Washington. Ready?”
Then Rowe started in on Adkins’ insinuations.
“You say that White Nationalists believe that everyone who goes to college is an ‘academic elite.’ You then say that Republicans promote ‘anti-intellectualism.’ You offer no proof to support either claim, but it really doesn’t matter – your statements successfully connect two radically different organizations by alleging a shared belief,” Rowe said. “Thus, White Nationalists and The Republican Party suddenly have something in common – a contempt for higher education. Then, you make it personal. You say that Republicans “love” me because they believe that my initiative and ‘their’ initiative are one and the same. But of course, ‘their’ initiative is now the same initiative as White Nationalists.”
He continued “Very clever. Without offering a shred of evidence, you’ve implied that Republicans who support mikeroweWORKS do so because they believe I share their disdain for all things ‘intellectual.’ And poof – just like that, Republicans, White Nationalists, and mikeroweWORKS are suddenly conflated, and the next thing you know, I’m off on a press tour to disavow rumors of my troubling association with the Nazis!”
“Far-fetched? Far from it,” Rowe continued. “That’s how logical fallacies work. A flaw in reasoning or a mistaken belief undermines the logic of a conclusion, often leading to real-world consequences. And right now, logical fallacies are not limited to the warped beliefs of morons with tiki torches, and other morons calling for ‘more dead cops.’ Logical fallacies are everywhere.”
Not near done, Rowe wrote, “As I type this, a Democrat on CNN is making an argument that says, ‘because Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, those Republicans now opposed to tearing down his memorial are ‘pro-slavery,’ and therefore aligned with the modern day KKK.’ That’s a logical fallacy.
“Over on Fox, a Republican is arguing that ‘any Democrat who has not yet condemned the Senator from Missouri for publicly wishing that Donald Trump be assassinated, is guilty of wishing for the exact same thing.’ That’s a logical fallacy.
“Yesterday, on The Science Channel, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, a noted astronomer, tweeted that the ability of scientists to accurately predict the solar eclipse, was proof that predictions of global warming were also accurate. That’s a logical fallacy.”
Then Rowe turned the tables on his accuser, continuing, “Want to hear another one? Imagine something like this, unfolding over on MSNBC.
“‘Good Evening, America, our top story tonight… Chuck Atkins is a racist! Why? Because he can’t spell. Just look at his grammar! In a recent post on Mike Rowe’s Facebook page, Mr. Atkins, while bemoaning America’s global academic standing, not only misspelled ‘elitist,’ he used ‘tenants’ when he meant ‘tenets.’ He neglected to use a hyphen in ‘anti-intellectual,’ and he misplaced several commas and apostrophes! But why is he a racist, you ask? Simple. Because everyone knows racists are ignorant. Chuck Atkins is clearly a poor speller. Poor spelling and grammar are signs of ignorance. Ergo – Chuck Atkins is a racist! Boom! The matter is settled!”
“There’s not much we can do about the news, but here on Facebook, I think we can do better. This isn’t Twitter,” Rowe said. “We’re not limited to a few inflammatory sentences and a flurry of emojis. Take a moment, Chuck. Think. Make a rational argument. Otherwise, just link us to a cat video. People love those, and they’re almost never ‘bad for business.’ (Unless of course, the cat gets hurt. People hate that.) Just don’t assume that people will care about your beliefs, if you’re not willing to back them up with some relevant facts and a rational conclusion. Here, for instance, are a few facts that matter to me, with respect to my foundation and the recurring charge of ‘fostering anti-intellectualism.'”
Rowe then defended his charitable work, writing, “mikeroweWORKS is a PR campaign for the skilled trades. For the last nine years, we’ve partnered with numerous trade schools, raised millions of dollars for work-ethic scholarships, and called attention to millions of jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. But that doesn’t mean we’re ‘anti-intellectual.’ We’re not even ‘anti-college.’ We simply reject the popular notion that a four-year degree is the best path for the most people. And we’re hardly alone.
“Millions of reasonable people – Republicans and Democrats alike – are worried that our universities are doing a poor job of preparing students for the real world. They’re worried about activist professors, safe spaces, the rising cost of tuition, a growing contempt for history, and a simmering disregard of the first amendment. These people are concerned that our universities – once beacons of free speech – now pander to a relatively small percentage of students who can’t tolerate any political opinion that challenges their own. And they’re concerned – deeply concerned – that millions of good jobs are currently vacant that don’t require a four-year degree, or any of the catastrophic debt that comes with it.”
Returning to the original attack, Rowe concluded, “Again – these are not the concerns of ‘anti-intellectuals.’ They are the concerns of people who care about the future of the country. I don’t know how many of these people are Republicans, but I can assure you that no one who actually supports my initiative is remotely confused about my feelings on education, because I’ve been crystal clear on that topic from the very beginning. To quote Thomas Jefferson, (while I still can,) ‘If a nation expects to be ignorant and free and live in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.’ On this point, my foundation does not equivocate.
“In other words, Chuck, I have no idea what The White Nationalists think about my efforts, or the Republicans, the Democrats, the elitists, the Italians, the Presbyterians, the unions, or the self-proclaimed anti-intellectuals. And really, I couldn’t care less. My question is, why do you? Mike”
After his long rant, Rowe added two postscripts to lighten the mood a bit.
“PS. Ok, I’ve just re-read this, (in a desperate search for typos,) and I want to apologize for pointing out that you’re a lousy speller. This is probably not the time to trot out The Grammar Nazi, but your tenor and tone pissed me off, and I responded in my own snarky way. Sorry,” he wrote.
“PPS Maybe this is how political correctness begins? Maybe we start by correcting each other’s grammar, and then move on to the business of correcting everything else? Today a missing hyphen, tomorrow a missing monument. Or, maybe not,” he concluded.
Without intending to, Chuck Adkins demonstrated one of the most destructive causes of divisiveness in our society - the self-serving idea that a university education makes you smarter than everyone else, and your opinions more valid. Frankly, if your ‘education’ consists of exposure to and memorization of other people's ideas and findings, but you have no intellectual curiosity, introspection, or creative and original thoughts of your own, you really aren't the intellectual giant you may think you are based on your diploma.
I have found that character means much more than education.
I am absolutely anti-21st Century intellectual because they are nothing of the sort.
Yup! Give me some of those 17th & 18th Century "Age of Enlightenment" intellectuals along with the ancient philosophers that formed the bedrock of their intellectual endeavors!
...one of the most useful courses I ever took was called “The Art of Logic”,In most cases that can be the only course one ever needs.
Our major problem is that emotions have replaced logical thinking and the biggest offenders are women.
Emotions and emotions alone are what gave us Barack Obama.
Yeah, I guess we should have predicted all this brou-ha-ha over Confederate monuments when the liberals tried to erase some of their own history by taking Jackson off the $20.
God bless Mike Rowe!
Well said, Mr. Rowe.
Thank you for posting Mike Work’s reply to his accuser. It was a refreshing read. Most important concept from it, is Mike’s pointing out of the logical fallacies being used by the left and their fellow travelers.
OJT is only as good as the person providing the training. Trade schools offer a standard even if it just rudimentary in structure.
The follow on to OJT (or trade school) has to have a structure or it is worthless. Hence the caveat emptor tag is (or should be) regarded with every tradesman hired without suitable references.
Business licensing does very little in providing or ensuring standards and measures of competence.
What can you, the consumer do? Network. Look for indices of expertise. Rate workmanship online.
I’ve been burned once, and upped the ante in the practice of due diligence in selection of experienced professionals or masters in the trades I employ. There are quality tradesmen out there, and there are quality tradesmen who cut corners, and there are plenty of drive by shysters to go around. Be diligent and pay attention to references. It pays to do so.
Here’s a simple answer that I used back in the day when I was a “blue collar” union pipefitter, and not an educated white collar guy.
My answer: yes I work my hands but my brain tells my hands what to do.
Plain and simple.
Chuck Adkins doesn’t know the difference between a tenet (a principle belief) and a tenant (a renter)? What is he doing trying to write in the English language?
One thing Mike didn’t call this leftist goon on is his assertion our education system is having it’s ass kicked by virtually the entire world. Why is that Chad? It’s because our education system is run by democrats! Self-proclaimed intellectuals like Chad have dumbed our system down so as not to embarrass your average liberal—the lowest common denominator.
No, just the opposite. If the predictions of these global warming people ever came true, then people would believe them. But even if you give them a pretty close starting point, say a hurricane is spotted in the middle of the Atlantic by a satellite. Their long-term understanding wasn't good enough to predict when and where the hurricane would form. How about their short-term understanding? They might predict that it'll hit South Florida, but then in a week it hits North Carolina-not even close.
And how many times have they predicted we'll be underwater in 10 years? Numerous times. Not until they have an understanding such that they can make predictions about the weather that come true will I believed them.
The “anti-intellectuals” who believe colleges and universities are merely producing indoctrinated elitists are not the ones responsible for the fact that colleges and universities are merely producing indoctrinated elitists, they’re just pointing out that fact.
Perhaps merely producing indoctrinated elitists has something to do with the US getting it’s “ass kicked” academically by the rest of the world? Maybe less indoctrination, more education?
Nah, that can’t possibly have anything to do with it, lol.
Weird Al, is that you?
Hopefully, some of the grammar-Nazis on this bulletin board will read this.
Rowe is an excellent writer. Who knew?
So, you are like the Gestapo branch of the grammar Nazis? Letting us know in advance what you will tolerate and what you will not?
No can do, all those people were racist slave-owners who supported the Patriarchy...or some other such nonsense!
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