Jason - Patriotism

Introducing..

In so many ways our guest speaker shows us what is great about America. I remember the first time I saw him, up to his armpits in charcoal dust and a crazy look in his eyes. He was talking about some truly miserable work, but his smile certainly made him look like he was having a good time. While his TV show was not glamorous, often showing filth and rot, it never failed to show the valor of hard work. It became a kind of celebration of the American worker.

From that he did what might be the most American of activities, which is leveraging his success into a cause. Now, this wasn’t some “Save the Pigeons” or “Make the Desert Green” type program. This was a cause to reinvigorate skilled trades. As part of that program he even went before congress to express the need to change our perception of skilled trades. Extending the very thing he had been doing on TV, telling those bureaucrats their strength was from the workers they represented. He showed them greatness there.

In the speeches he gives to executives in Fortune 500 companies he tells them about our most free and most virtuous nation. He warns them not to rest on their wealth, that it was their effort, not their titles, that make the difference. He tells of maggot farmers who love life and the need for the noble trash collector. He brings warnings and encouragement. Greatness is not in rent seeking.

These audiences, though, are not his only ones. He writes to the young, particularly Eagle Scouts. To each Eagle Scout he writes a letter and, while he would not bill it as such, he tells them what is great about America. That the title Eagle Scout, while it is a great accomplishment, it doesn’t get them anything, it doesn’t mean anyone owes them anything. They do not have a destiny controlled by being an Eagle Scout. Their future is still theirs to make. They need to put what they have earned to use. The greatness of America will be in the future they make, not in the badge they have earned. 

See we have brought this man to talk to us today because he brings us a unique song of America, a distinctive brand of patriotism, which celebrates our past, but doesn’t rest on it and doesn’t pretend it is perfect. It looks forward to the future, but doesn’t think anyone is entitled to some kind of free ride. The real meat of his patriotism is about the work of today, hard work. The beauty of America is in her Dirty Jobs. So, without further ado, let me introduce Mike Rowe.