Mike Rowe & Discovery's Dirty Jobs Comes to End

Jobs.  Any jobs.  Even "Dirty Jobs"?

Jobs have been the talk of the country for the past four years as the country continues to limp its way to recovery from a financial crisis, crash, and recession that cost Americans 23 million jobs.  And, now works' greatest advocate - Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs - is facing the end of one of his greatest gigs.  Via his blog Mike Rowe announced the end of the series that had been one of the Discovery Channel's most popular.  And with that, the voice of labor has been dealt a blow.

For almost a decade, Mike Rowe has been singing the praises of "working people," and reminding Americans of the glory in hard work, even if - especially if - it's one of those jobs that people won't normally take.  As host of Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe and his now iconic voice spent an hour each week educating people about the intricacies of miners and roadkill picker-uppers and steelworkers.  And Mike Rowe didn't comment from the sidelines - he got down and dirty with the people who make the country run.  Acting as an apprentice, Mike would spend a day with the "dirty jobs" workers, doing what they do and seeing the world from their perspective - which could mean from the inside of a septic tank.

However, Mike Rowe wasn't just a TV personality, spotlighting the news and offering a point of view

In the past decade, Mike Rowe has become a significant proponent for what he calls "A P.R. campaign for work."  During his popular TED Talks speech about the the issue of work, Mike Rowe argued that America had "declared war on work."  There was a growing contempt for labor, even as the country saw a rising need for skilled workers.  Fewer people were interested in becoming plumbers and electricians and welders because they have been steered toward bachelor degrees for "better jobs."  This is not good in a country that needs almost $4 trillion in infrastructure work and has seen many manufacturing and college-educated jobs move abroad in recent years.  Something need to be done to return a degree of respect for labor and Career and Technical Education.  Rowe responded by stepping up and doing just that - he's promoting work.  In creating a website -  MikeRoweWorks.com which is committed to developing the profile of work, of labor - Mike is hoping to contribute to putting people back to work.

Through his "work" advocating work, Mike Rowe has played a role in developing conversations for the United States to rethink the way it educates its young people and trains people for the future.  The website continues to grow, and Mike's ideas were even drawn in to the arena they belong - the political world of the 2012 campaign.  Speaking at a rally for Mitt Romney, Mike Rowe did not stump for the candidate or promote ideology or partisanship.  He simply talked about the importance of working people and the importance of putting people back to work.