In a new “Sunday Special” interview, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro spoke to television host Mike Rowe about blue-collar jobs and patriotism.
Rowe is famous for hosting the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs” in the early 2000s. His new movie, “Something to Stand For” pulls stories about American heroes and is hitting theaters at the end of June.
During their hour-long conversation, Shapiro asked Rowe what inspired him to make his patriotic movie.
“I’m real clear when I talk about it that I didn’t write it for Republicans or Democrats or liberals or conservatives. I wrote it for people who still see themselves first and foremost as Americans,” Rowe said.
Rowe lamented that “anti-Americanism” has “crept into the conversation.”
“It is unfortunate that there is a cohort today that fundamentally sees themselves as something else,” he said. “The movie’s not for them. They’re welcome to come.”
Rowe expressed that he was dismayed to see people dressing American statues up in Hamas garb and thought, “What are we doing?” In his movie, Rowe visits Washington, D.C. to appreciate the national monuments.
“I mean, to truly understand how amazing America is, you really do have to understand history and that there is an entire rest of the world out there, and the rest of the world has an enormous number of truly crappy places, places you would never want to live with awful values, with people who believe precisely the opposite of what we believe,” Shapiro responded.
Shapiro also asked Rowe about what he is hearing from blue-collar workers in the current economy, with sky-high inflation compared to before the pandemic.
Rowe emphasized that there is a distinction in the blue-collar world between blue-collar workers and entrepreneurs, who are “killing it” and have “more work than they can do.”
“The math goes like this,” Rowe said. “Every year five skilled tradespeople retire. For every five who retire, two replace them … It’s been like that for nearly 20 years. We’re seeing an incredible lack of interest and enthusiasm around these skilled trades.”
However, the entrepreneurs like small mechanical contracting companies with two or three vans and six workers are winning in this economy, Rowe said.
“It’s true. Inflation, super bad,” he said. “The cost of college, an enormous problem. The unintended consequences of forgiving student loans, all that stuff is part and parcel of the madness that’s happening right now.”
“But the entrepreneur, who took the time to master a skill that’s in demand is crushing it in this economy,” Rowe said.
