Mike Rowe, skeptic?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[Sisifo]

That was fantastic, Zilla. I want an smiley of standing ovation. I have decided to stay in Asia because I cannot fit any more in western culture, all about our rights. Here, rights are secondary. Here what you have are duties. And work comes first, and second, and third. And then, your family. And you do the stuff that you have to do. Everybody break their backs working or their eyes studying, but parasitism is unthinkable. And in 3 years here, with regular clerks, orphans, hunters, factory chain workers... I have never heard anyone whining! When I go to Spain (or USA), in 10 minutes, I receive all kind of speeches about what the world, the family, the company owes them...

Fight or die, but never whine.

Well... I think Mike Rowe explains that much better.

By the way, he is an amazing speaker.

[floppit]

Good post!

If you want organisations that are rarely questioned, have and want to keep (+often extend) their own power, appeal as largely to emotion as they do fact, and claim the ultimate moral high ground, huge animal protection charities I've come across fit the bill well. It's the right place to post this, for a secular example of how things can be just to similar to religion I think it would be hard to find better.

I'm not suggesting there are no good ones, both my dogs are rescue animals and I have a lot of time for many who work to look out for our furry friends but, in my opinion, in this country, the RSPCA has become so unchallengeable, as to perhaps render it more powerful than the police. I've heard it said that it would take a very brave copper to argue with one of the RSPCAs inspectors.

One thing I'm certain of is that to skeptically criticise any of these big charities is NOT to support cruelty - unfortunately over here that's the way such action is portrayed.

I'd be interested to know what backlash Mike Rowe received for saying what he has.

[JimC]

Sisifo wrote:

...Here what you have are duties. And work comes first, and second, and third. And then, your family. And you do the stuff that you have to do. Everybody break their backs working or their eyes studying, but parasitism is unthinkable....

I wonder if we have a case of pendulums here. Sure, I sometimes wish the students I teach (and some of my colleagues) had a stronger work ethic, and the "find someone to blame" culture is often a pain in the neck...

However, some aspects of the asian take that you are describing are a little too ant-like to me. There are many aspects of the emphasis on indidividual rights in western culture is a triumph of freedom, often a freedom hard-won from collectivist churches...

[Animavore]

Title was a bit misleading. That wasn't about PETA at all.
Great speech though. I've seen that episode of Dirty Jobs where he was on the Deadliest Catch ship. We were laughing at how clueless he was. People who work in administration always talk about safety but it rarely comes into the job you do.

[Sisifo]

Sisifo wrote:

...Here what you have are duties. And work comes first, and second, and third. And then, your family. And you do the stuff that you have to do. Everybody break their backs working or their eyes studying, but parasitism is unthinkable....

I wonder if we have a case of pendulums here. Sure, I sometimes wish the students I teach (and some of my colleagues) had a stronger work ethic, and the "find someone to blame" culture is often a pain in the neck...

However, some aspects of the asian take that you are describing are a little too ant-like to me. There are many aspects of the emphasis on indidividual rights in western culture is a triumph of freedom, often a freedom hard-won from collectivist churches...

It is probably a pendulum case, indeed. I feel more comfortable in a society that abhors inactivity and has a strong sense of duty that in the individual rights society. We can dialogue about that, but the seek of freedom and individuality, are western values; not worldwide accepted values. And even in western societies, I believe that things have gone too far.
I am lucky, though. Vietnam is a lot more easygoing than China, so it is really not in the other side of the spectrum. But in the end, the individual freedom is a political result of western philosophers and thinkers. In these part of the world, the values root on Confucionism, which is all about your duties to the different groups you belong.