Dirty Jobs

Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe is a television star, much like Donald Trump was before he turned to politics.  Mr. Rowe starred in the cable favorite, Dirty Jobs.  He went from town to town in America, and highlighted jobs that “regular folks” were doing.  They usually were jobs that included getting dirty, greasy, and nasty on a daily basis.  And Mike not only “reported” on those jobs, he often participated. 

The jobs ranged from obscure; bat cave scavenger and worm dung farmer; to commonplace, like road kill cleaners and sewer inspectors.  He made 170 episodes over seven years.  Many Americans came to love both the eye-opening revelation of what their fellow citizens did for a living, and Mike Rowe’s constant willingness to get down and dirty as part of the show.  

So when the series ended, Rowe had a large following.  He’s parlayed that fan base into backing for what he calls his non-political views.  It started with the American educational system.  Mike became an advocate for vocational education, and a critic of “everyone needing” a college degree.  It fit in perfectly with his Dirty Jobs image.

Champion

Mike isn’t necessarily a “Trumper”, but he has a developed a role as the “champion” of the common man, much the same role that Donald Trump claims.  Rowe’s take on 2016 was that the choices were “skinny” and that voters were “busted” with both candidates.  He doesn’t see the present choices as particularly different.

He has already begun filming a return of Dirty Jobs.  Some have criticized his travelling around the country, taking a film crew from place to place in the middle of a pandemic.  But Rowe takes a very firm stand on COVID-19, one that gets little conversation today in our country.  And that’s why we’re doing this “dirty job” today, writing about Mike Rowe.  

Mike accepts the view explained by Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP).  Osterholm anticipates that the COVID-19 virus will ultimately infect 100 million Americans, and kill 480,000.   He explains that “flattening the curve” reduces the volume of COVID cases at any one time, but never was, and isn’t, about “stopping” the disease; just slowing it down so hospital space remains available.

Osterholm sees the COVID epidemic as requiring herd immunity.  Herd immunity means that a high percentage of the population gains immunity, either through having had the disease, or vaccination.  Until we reach herd immunity, the disease, he says, it’s going to continue to spread.

Grieving

Rowe takes the position that we need to go through the stages of grief about COVID:  denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance.  And that once we reach acceptance, we need to determine to go ahead and live our lives, knowing we will ultimately get the virus, and lose loved ones, and there’s little or nothing we can do about it.

It doesn’t mean that Rowe, or Osterholm, advocates recklessness.  Both wear masks when appropriate, both advocate social distancing. And both recognize that “flattening the curve” is important as a way to reduce suffering.  

But Rowe has reached a fatalistic position, that since he can do little about the pandemic, he has determined to go about life, filming the new series, and travelling the country.  As he puts it, 40,000 Americans die in traffic accidents each year: we don’t cover every wreck with national media exposure.  Wear a seat belt, check your mirrors, and drive.  His view:  “I’m also aware we’d be a lot safer if we all kept ourselves in the house. But that’s not why cars, or people, exist” (Rowe Blog).

Choices

There are, clearly, alternative views to that of Dr. Osterholm and Mr. Rowe.  Many other experts believe that we can stave-off the fatalities until a vaccine arrives, and then achieve herd immunity by injection rather than infection. In that way, hundreds of thousands won’t have to die.  It’s a matter of patience and control:  putting off choices that will increase infection, and controlling interactions with others.

But Mike Rowe is expressing the thoughts of many; wanting to regain the life they feel they lost on March 15th.  It is a kind of an American, bull-headed, full steam ahead approach.  If folks are going to die anyway, then let’s get it over with and get on with our lives.

That choice has one significant problem:  those making that decision aren’t just making it for themselves.  They are making it for everyone, whether we agree with Dr. Osterholm or not.  Their decision to “live their lives” will speed the spread of the disease, and fulfill their prophecy of mass infection.  

And that’s the dirty part.