'Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe Meets the Koch Brothers

113 点作者 rajeck超过 8 年前

13 条评论

daeken超过 8 年前

I've gained a massive, massive respect for Mike Rowe over the past 5-10 years. He works to make the world a better place through education and understanding, and this post is a perfect example of this. Kudos to him for speaking out and standing his ground, rather than crumbling to nonsensical public pressure.

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aaronbrethorst超过 8 年前

Meanwhile the Kochs have likely given around seven figures to ALEC[1], which has pushed aggressively for enhancing the laws[2] that Charles Koch is now, apparently, deeply opposed to.Maybe it's a turn of heart, but I'm rather skeptical.[1] <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/alec-exposed-koch-connection/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thenation.com/article/alec-exposed-koch-connecti...</a>[2] <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thenation.com/article/hidden-history-alec-and-pr...</a>

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tptacek超过 8 年前

This is a great little piece, and I'm glad I saw it, and I wouldn't have seen it at all had it not been at the top of HN (despite the fact that most of what Mike Rowe writes somehow lands in my Fb feed), and I even agree with I think something like 98% of what it says.But it still feels like an almost textbook example of what shouldn't be on the front page of HN.Something Mike Rowe writes about the importance of the skilled trades, how they work, what the market for those people is like? Sure!But this piece is really just about politics and current events. In this case: politics I don't find very challenging (despite being a Democrat). But still: it's only interesting if you know who the Koch Brothers are and what their role in US politics tends to be.It would be neat if when things like this came up and got stuck to the front page, they could be replaced with something more important the same person wrote. Here, for example: same form, same author, basically the same content, without the horse-race political hook:<a href="http://mikerowe.com/2016/02/stopignoringskillsgap/" rel="nofollow">http://mikerowe.com/2016/02/stopignoringskillsgap/</a>

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tsomctl超过 8 年前

"But I was most surprised by his commitment to reinvigorate the skilled trades."Why is he surprised? Koch Industries relies extensively on skilled laborers. Wikipedia lists Koch Industries' produces as "Asphalt, chemicals, commodities trading, energy, fibers, fertilizers, finance, minerals, natural gas, plastics, petroleum, pulp and paper, ranching". With the exception of commodities trading and finance, all of these require fabricators, electricians, pipe fitters, millwrights, machinists, heavy equipment operator, and a whole bunch of other trades. Even if they have enough employees, having more people trained in these trades allows them to hire better employees. From a more pessimistic point of view, having allows them to pay workers less.

mabbo超过 8 年前

"The truth is, progress only happens when people find common ground and build something on it."Very wise words.

SCAQTony超过 8 年前

My mother was a closet racist but I loved her very dearly. She donated to many charities, set up fund raisers for drug rehab centers and always picked up the check no matter how many people were at the table. I separated her bad judgement knowing damn well it was wrong and illogical and appreciated the good; I still continued to love her despite some ugly thoughts she had.I like Gaugin's paintings even though he was a syphilic pedophile who left his family so he could have sex with teens in the south pacific... I separate the man from the work because it is good work. I would have had him put in jail if I could too.<a href="http://hyperallergic.com/111730/posthumous-prognosis-for-supposedly-syphilitic-gauguin-via-his-teeth/" rel="nofollow">http://hyperallergic.com/111730/posthumous-prognosis-for-sup...</a>Hugo Boss makes some really nice underwear and mens shirts but when Hugo Boss was alive he designed all the NAZI and SS uniforms. The original Hugo Boss is dead and is one suppose to "never forget" and punish those that came after him?<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/15/business/hugo-boss-acknowledges-link-to-nazi-regime.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/15/business/hugo-boss-acknowl...</a>T.S. Elliot was anti semitic but he was pen pals with Groucho Marx (a jew) and had a photo of Groucho on his wall. Being friends with Groucho actually softened his points of view because Groucho stayed engaged.<a href="http://www.openculture.com/2014/02/groucho-marx-and-t-s-eliot-become-unexpected-pen-pals.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.openculture.com/2014/02/groucho-marx-and-t-s-elio...</a>Personality has many modules. In some areas within our personalities there is a bunch of lice. However, you support what you agree with and you aggressively question the bad.

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Mz超过 8 年前

(Although I must say, this is the first time my proximity to the “wrong guy” has brought about the demise of a ten-year celebrity crush. That one stings.)Eh, if it makes Mike Rowe feel any better, I crush on him and, off the top of my head, I can only think of a couple of other celebrities I crush on.Glad to see him doing this kind of work and kudos to him for building bridges and getting shit done. To hell with the folks writing him hate mail over him collaborating with the "wrong" people in order to do good works.Refreshing to read something about the need for labor and skills on HN instead of basic income.

rajeck超过 8 年前

FWIW, I thought this would be of interest to hackers as I think Mike Rowe exemplifies the hacker ethos of crossing boundaries to get a new perspective on problems.If all you do is sing from the same hymn sheet all the time, you're going to get the same song </strained analogy>

driverdan超过 8 年前

This applies to HN because it's relevant to raising money and ethics of charity. Would you accept a funding round from a person or company who has done things you strongly disagree with?Does the "good" you can do with that money outweigh the "bad" that person or company has done?There are a lot of people out there who would be fantastic investors for you, provide great mentorship and guidance to your company along with the money but who are generally considered to be bad people. Do you take their money?If the topic interests you I recommend learning about effective altruism: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism</a>

danblick超过 8 年前

When I think of the Koch brothers, I think of their support for the Mercatus Center, which is associated with a bunch of (libertarian-leaning) economists I respect and frequently learn from.

aresant超过 8 年前

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mempko超过 8 年前

I guess that's one way to handle cognitive dissonance. Sorry Mike, you could have just ignored the hate mail and kept on truck'n. Or you could have said "Yeah, he is Satan, but I will take his money because I'm fine with ripping off the devil".This is a fluff piece and you made it very clear you know who butters your bread.

ebbv超过 8 年前

This is a fluff piece trying to make an arch-conservative who is constantly pushing for deregulation and removal of environmental protections sound like a softy because he donated a bunch of money to Rowe's foundation. I have no doubt that the Koch brothers believe the agenda they push is for the best, but that's because they are self centered people.If you dig below the surface of any of the seemingly not self interested stories told in this piece, they come from a place of total self interest. The Koch brothers employ former convicts because they know they can pay them low wages and work them hard in their factories because they're desperate for work. The Koch brothers push for deregulation of all industry, the hair braiding license is just a seemingly "common sense" deregulation story.Mike Rowe has long been far too cozy for my comfort to large corporations and conservative politics in general. He throws Bill Maher in here to make himself sound "middle of the road" or like he has views across the spectrum, but in general Mr. Rowe tends to be on the conservative side of issues, which is why it's no surprise to me that he's buddies with the Koch brothers.EDIT:I should add that you can be a conservative and be a principled person who isn't selfish (obviously), but the Koch brothers are not that. You can also be a selfish liberal too, so I don't mean to imply that conservatives have a monopoly on being an asshole.

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