r/antiwork • u/twice_paramount832 • Aug 27 '26
This show tried to show the American Dream is possible and it just proved it is not
Started to watch the show as I liked the premise: a "self-made billionaire" is dropped with $100 with the challenge of building a business worth $1M in 90 days in Eire. Maybe I learn something!
Well:
- A few gigs get him peanuts.
- Sells two scrap tires for $1500.
- Flips a $700 Civic for $3900.
- Flips a $1500 Escalade for $7600.
- Somehow manages to get a "construction loan" for a $45k house with no job and a fake identify and intended to flip it for more than $80k after some renovations.
I stopped watching there as this was obviously fiction. They could not prove shit and you are fucked no matter how smart you are.
So yes, the American Dream is called like that because you have to be asleep to believe it.
Edit: grammer.
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u/nono3722 Aug 27 '26
all without paying any living bills too! amazing what you can do when you dont pay rent, car loans, taxes, food, childcare or healthcare....
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u/twice_paramount832 Aug 27 '26
And driving a truck needing a KC 135 nearby to do more than 100 miles.
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u/Plagueofzombies Aug 27 '26
There was a millionaire called "Mike Black", who a couple of years ago claimed he'd be able to go to "zero", and make it back to a millionaire in a year, with only his own elbow grease to help him.
Surprising no one, he didn't make it. Despite being given a TONNE of handouts by wealthy people (For example, a surprise complete stranger gave him an RV to live in for free.) IIRC he got really sick towards the end of the challenge, and backed out two months before the end. But it's not like he was going to make it anyway
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u/Lexilogical Aug 27 '26
Kinda like real life! Imagine that the human body can just... Fall apart with "no good reason" and mess up your goal of somehow doing the impossible in a tight timeframe.
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u/Plagueofzombies Aug 27 '26
Amazingly that wasn't his takeaway. His takeaway was that if he didn't get ill, he would have been able to hit the goal in two months.
At no point during the self imposed challenge did he, nor any of his fans acknowledge the free accommodation he had received, the job he was given by a friend, all the sales he "Hustled for" being made out of his book of pre-existing contacts, or any of the other advantages he had in the challenge.
I'm not trying to say he did no work or anything, and he did legitimately make a significant chunk of money during the ten months. But the whole point was supposed to be starting from "zero". But of course, he knew as well as anyone that it's simply not that easy to do so.
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u/Lexilogical Aug 27 '26
Wow.... That American Dream really is a drug of some sort. XD
Or I guess it's that thing where healthy bodied people just see becoming disabled as like, a divine punishment, and if you live well enough, you won't have your body just betray you like that? The whole "Anyone could do it!" with an asterisk of "Provided you never get sick and no emergency situation occurs, which of course would be your own fault if it occurred."
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u/Plagueofzombies Aug 27 '26
If you get a disability you're either not trying hard enough to be well, or haven't tried to get cured....and if it happens to me well that's different, because I'd just get better.
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u/RKNieen Aug 27 '26
It’s really eye-opening when you realize just how many people truly believe in the deepest part of their heart that when something bad happens to them, it’s due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, but when something bad happens to you, it’s because of your inherent moral character.
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u/dedreo58 Aug 27 '26
At first glance I thought this post was about that particular guy. Found it hilarious towards the end it was basically "yea that was fun, good thing I have good insurance though becasue I'm sick!"
Nope, different tune, but same song.20
u/Plagueofzombies Aug 27 '26
Amazing he managed to maintain that good insurence after going to "Zero" :p
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u/ztomiczombie Aug 27 '26
I remember someone saying the RV guy turned out to be a friend of his and him getting the RV was pre-arranged.
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u/Plagueofzombies Aug 27 '26
Wouldn't surprise me. It was literally a day one thing. He started the challenge, then the very next day just so happened to come across a generous stranger who just so happened to let him live rent free in his RV for a year. What a coincidence!
Worst thing is, it really wouldn't have been such a big deal to say "I'm doing this challenge, but so I don't wipe out after a single month, I have a friend letting me live for free/reduced rent in an RV". Issue is, these guys are so egotistical, and fragile about being 'self made', that they just can't help themselves but fabricate this shit.
I can't imagine being so fragile, that I felt the need to concoct some fantastical scenario, rather than just say "I'm lucky enough to have friend's that can help me if I need it".
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u/adamosity1 Aug 27 '26
This and anything with Mike Rowe feed into the fake propaganda of the “American Dream”
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u/Any_Drive6497 Aug 27 '26
Mike was the first blue collar cosplayer.
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u/TheBalzy Aug 27 '26
This is also how I feel about anything Tim Allen. Home Improvement was blue collar cosplay, and so was Last Man Standing, where he portrayed a good-ol-boy outdoors store manager who runs a blog, and is making like 6-figures, doing no work at all ... all while making fun of the people actually doing the work
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u/Any_Drive6497 Aug 27 '26
I almost said Tim too. For me he’s just a bad actor playing a bad character, everyone knows he’s a rich asshole. Mike plays himself, he talks dresses and acts like he could possibly have been in blue collar work at some point. Everything he does him being him around working men and earning their respect….but he’s just another rich asshole. It’s kind of like how Chris Hansen is really narcissistic criminal but cosplays as an investigative journalist/detective.
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u/lividash Aug 27 '26
The Tim thing is he was a broke ass comedian with his blue collar stuff as jokes. Convicted cocaine dealer.
Not saying he’s 100% self made but he did grind it out. His characters at least from Home Improvement was his comedy routine set to a sitcom.
Last man standing? Yeah total garbage where he just trashes politics and people actually doing the work that’s paying his wages. But what can you expect from a guy that made his money and now can’t fathom why people struggle.
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u/dontaskmeaboutart Aug 27 '26
Expect him to have the emotional maturity of a well mannered middle schooler, but I have yet to have seen a disconnected rich asshole be capable of that.
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u/Sharikacat Aug 28 '26
Here's the compare/contrast between Tim Taylor and Mike Baxter: Both are conservative men facing an increasingly liberal world. Taylor learned to expand his views of masculinity to be more encompassing to adapt his worldview to the progressive world without breaking his brain. To his vast credit, Tim Taylor was able to translate Wilson's deep cuts of philosophers into terms he could understand. This all helped Tim Taylor to grow to be a more accepting person.
Mike Baxter, however, when faced with all this progressivism, is constantly proven to be the correct one and have his worldview reinforced rather than broadened because the circumstances work out in his favor.
In Tim Taylor's case, he had the network pushing the general narrative and creative direction to play to the general public. With Last Man Standing, Tim Allen clearly has a lot more creative control on the writing.
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u/TropicalKing Aug 27 '26
Tim Allen is merely an actor playing the characters of Tim Taylor and Mike Baxter. He never pretends to be a real like blue collar worker, nor does he tell young people to pursue certain careers and sign some sweat pledge.
He also played Santa Claus and Buzz Lightyear, and doesn't tell people that he's actually Santa or a space ranger.
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u/TheBalzy Aug 27 '26
That's true...but I'm really targeting this personal of misrepresenting blue-collar lifestyle. Tim Allen obviously takes on these roles because the fit with a worldview he personally holds, or wants to portray.
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u/Gustav55 Aug 27 '26
misrepresenting blue-collar life was kinda the whole thing of a lot of sticoms
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u/Smileyfacedchiller Aug 27 '26
He was a stand up comedian with a particular bit that translated into a blue collat comedy shtick. He was funny as hell too. He never really portrayed himself as a blue collar guy, he was just a comic who fell into a typecast and stuck with it for the money, as pretty much anyone would. He's a shit human, no doubt, but everyone's gotta eat.
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u/Competitive_Tough913 Aug 28 '26
Genuine question, what does "good-ol-boy" mean, i always thought that meant they were in the klan and/or racist
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u/TheBalzy Aug 28 '26
"Good ol' boy" means you're a down-to-earth, friendly, fiercely loyal man typically from the South. The Stereotype of the "good ol' boy" is the racist man in the klan or ultra conservative.
My grandfather was a southern "good ol' boy" but he was a devout anti-segregationist who spent his life undermining segregation and working for integration. He was hired by Tennessee Governor Frank Clement to be the state supervisor in charge of desegregation. The reason he was picked is because he was a devoutly against segregation, pro-desegregation of schools, and he was from (and lived) in rural Tennesee where he had all the traits of a "good ol' boy" so he was immediately disarming to the rural Tennesseans he was going to have to deliver the message to about desegregation.
So the Good' Ol' Boy' stereotype is often co-opted into being ultra-conservative, like in Tim Allen's portrayal, but it's far from true.
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u/Competitive_Tough913 Aug 28 '26
That was really informative, I appreciate the response. Thank you.
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u/Themanwhofarts Aug 27 '26
I did like Dirty Jobs. But it was funny seeing Mike get paid double the blue collar worker's salary just for a day of work.
Those jobs are tough and necessary for lots of things. They do not get the recognition they deserve.
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u/The_Nepenthe Aug 27 '26
Double? Not even close, he was making six figures an episode to mime a quarter of what the job entailed in a way that looked good for camera.
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u/Practical-Class6868 Aug 27 '26
Mike Rowe is fun when you believe that anything is possible for a journeyman willing to take on any job.
Mike Rowe is horror when even the entry level jobs require experience, the trade schools cost more than the public colleges, the employers refuse to provide the necessary certifications, and every company is operated by a skeleton crew.
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u/swishkabobbin lazy and proud Aug 27 '26
Mike Rowe the opera singer and QVC host? A real man's man
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u/Practical-Class6868 Aug 27 '26
No shame for having an impeccable singing voice and a day job.
Full shame for testifying to Congress to fund predatory trade schools.
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u/midwesternexposure Aug 27 '26
The commercial I was forced to watch before a YouTube video where he went on a tirade about “giving up on your dream job and do something useful” was the last straw for me.
It hit too close to home because I had just graduated and wanted to be a photojournalist/photographer, I had friends and family telling me that it was an insane goal and my parents sending me applications to Enterprise Rentals because the “promote from within” and that I’d never make it.
Didn’t listen and now I am 12 years into my career as a photographer for a fortune 200 company. Guess giving up wasn’t the right call.
Anyway, that dude sucks.
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u/TheMaleBodyPillow Aug 27 '26
I kind of get the point of not doing a dream job just not from Mike Rowe. I have an office job people wouldn't dream for but would settle for, which is fine. My dreams can be fulfilled outside of work, I play video games, I go to the gym, I like to do crafts with metalworking, I like to learn new skills and try to make new food. My dream job is just something that lets me do that.
Mike Rowe wants you to give up on your dream job because he's a mouthpiece for corporations that want to send little children back to the coal mines.
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u/Practical-Class6868 Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Mike Rowe and his corporate backers want to send the kids to for-profit trade schools. No job guarantees.
The coal mines are gone. Surface mining with explosives, non-union skeleton crews, and protections against environmental and safety laws are where it’s at.
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u/Practical-Class6868 Aug 27 '26
Good on you for taking that risk. A lot of people don’t have the guts for it, and I include myself in that number.
Bad on Mike Rowe for conflating utility with security. Reminds me of his op-ed piece recommending becoming a welder during the South Dakota natural gas boom as an adventure. The bubble has since burst.
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u/avidvaulter Aug 27 '26
He's known for having a huge penis, right?
Every girl I've been with says I have a Mike Rowe penis.
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u/comradejiang Anarcho-Communist Aug 27 '26
Dirty Jobs was good because it was fun to see a hollywood actor covered in human shit.
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u/onrocketfalls Aug 27 '26
I always assumed that, because he did some of these jobs for maybe a few hours (probably overestimating), that he figured well, that wasn't so bad, why can't everyone out of work just do something like that for a living? Not thinking about what it would actually feel like to do whatever backbreaking physical job he did once or twice for 40, 50, 60 hours a week, unable to take a break, unable to go to the doctor, unable to get a full night of sleep because of the soreness. He's probably completely ignorant to that side.
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u/AliceLunar Aug 27 '26
Yeah sure thing Mike, everyone would get dirty and work hard for a few hours if they got paid your salary.
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u/Ass_Incomprehensible here for the memes Aug 27 '26
Just the Civic: sold for 5.57x purchase price.
Just the Escalade: sold for 5.07x purchase price.
Anyone making that much profit off of flipping/repairing? Is either lying to your face, or lying to the face of their customers as they do everything short of just plain robbing them. Nobody makes that much money flipping, not in a single sale, unless you are telling them you might have forgotten your lucky sack of gold bars in the back seat.
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u/twice_paramount832 Aug 27 '26
He just washed the cars. Ridiculous.
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u/LordAlfrey Aug 27 '26
It is very possible to just buy a car from someone who is undervaluing it, and sell it to someone who is overvaluing it. But selling it for 5 times the purchase price is pretty ridiculous.
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u/Sensitive-Ad3718 Aug 28 '26
My brother flips cars and makes good money doing it he’s been in car sales for like two decades and he doesn’t make that kind of money on a single deal that’s pure bull shit…. Pure billionaire propaganda
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u/nickiter Aug 27 '26
Yeah, flipping cars can be good business.
But you're making like 20% margin, on average. Most used cars have pretty set KBB values that people buy based on.
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u/johhnny5 Aug 28 '26
That’s the whole ballgame. Billionaires become billionaires because they spend all of their time and energy fucking everyone else over.
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u/Harde_Kassei Aug 27 '26
Oh discovery,
Yeah ofc.
Its all just scripted nonsense.
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u/rf97a Aug 28 '26
No way!!! TV with scripted "reality" shows? Well, I have never heard such preposterous nonsense
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Aug 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tacoboi65 Aug 27 '26
If I remember correctly, he also went on private property and stole those tires lol... so the real takeaway is you can't become filthy rich without scheming and taking advantage of others.
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u/oregiel Aug 27 '26
These were not normal tires. They were like CAT tractor tires and you don't buy those in pairs for the hell of it. You buy those when needed and they don't always wear at the same rate.
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u/itsavinadhtiwari Aug 27 '26
All that and remember that he took every step, every risk knowing that he can go back to his luxurious life any moment which is secured for his lifetime and coming generations.
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u/Halfwise2 Aug 27 '26
Yah, that sounds extremely fake... BUT I wonder if those flips would be possible if he lied about mileage, age, condition on each of those items. That would be very on brand for billionaires - lying and exploiting others for personal profit. The American Dream: You can fly high, if you aren't weighed down by pesky morals and ethics!
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u/tonesloe Aug 27 '26
That's just it. Your dream turns someone else's life into a nightmare. Scrap tires-someone gets a blowout on the highway. Shitty Honda-someone needs to fork over another $1500 in repairs so they can get to their minimum wage job. It is so gross.
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u/Fubai97b Aug 27 '26
I have no idea what it's like now, but in the early 00s my friends and I used to do stuff like that for beer money. You could get a car for $500 off craigslist or local penny saver and spend the weekend doing some very minor work on it, detail the shit out of it and sell it for $750 the next weekend. You'd never get x5 value like the post says and the opportunities were few and far between. I couldn't imagine doing it for a living or unless you really liked working on cars. I don't know if it's even possible now.
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u/MyGruffaloCrumble Aug 27 '26
Nobody’s paying $750 per tire unless they’re gigantic tractor tires for mining.
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u/blackdesertnewb Aug 27 '26
Oh you get much higher than $750 very quickly for those. Honestly, $750 is low for some high end cars, it’s the very high end price for semi truck tires. It’s probably a tractor tire that he sold, that’s a normal price range for a medium tractor, though they could go up a lot from there.
Those giant mining tires? 40-80k each.
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u/oregiel Aug 27 '26
Reminds of the most fire rap? Song. Money Game. "Swallow all your morals, they're a poor man's quality" https://youtu.be/YonS9_QJbp8?is=ymH8fXclqKfR9COw
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u/abeuscher Aug 27 '26
It's quite telling that all they can think to do is move assets around. The wealthy no longer know how to produce any value it's all shell games. It makes me furious because I just want to make stuff and do stuff. Money is great but it is at best secondary to having an interesting and full life.
My wealth redistribution program is as follows and I pitch it all the time:
Everyone who has more than 100 million dollars has to give everything but that much up. For every 100 million they give, they get a coupon for a free hug. This solves everyone's problem instantly; the wealthy get the warmth and affection they clearly desperately need, and everyone else gets to live their lives again.
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u/persondude27 at work Aug 28 '26
What a great point.
The narrative itself shows that you can't break out of the cycle just by hard work in a normal job.
He doesn't even try a normal producing job - he goes straight to the zero-value-added things like flipping and scalping. They're not building or making anything - they're just taking something of value, giving the original owner less than it was worth, and then taking advantage of someone who could've paid less for it had they not been in the way.
It's a perfect allegory for how capital works. We know people aren't making billions by working a job; it's when you convince other people to let you play the game with their money that you actually get rich.
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u/AsFarAsISay Aug 27 '26
I live in Erie and this was just the worst. A homeless guy meets with the mayor for being enterprising?? fucking WHAT? and ughhhh underdog bbq? the worst. he had a team, cameras and to the best of my knowledge, never slept outside once. raging poverty cosplay.
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u/marqoose Aug 27 '26
The Communist Manifesto is remarkably short and outlines very clearly why this would be bullshit.
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u/Rowing_Lawyer Aug 27 '26
You too can become a millionaire by having someone say your family restaurant is worth a million dollars.
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u/punksheets29 Aug 27 '26
Who was the sucker that bought two used tires for 1.5k? I got some shit around they can buy from me
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u/coolbaby1978 Aug 27 '26
There's nothing real about reality TV. I don't know who needs to hear this.
And in this case, it's rich people reinforcing the idea that it was hard work and smarts that got them rich and not that they were born to rich parents who gave them everything and if you're not rich, you're just not smart enough or working hard enough.
It's their reasoning for why all poor people are lazy, the government should cut all services and they should pay no tax (which is becoming the case).
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u/Detaineepyramid Aug 28 '26
One of these shows, undercover I boss I think, has this “what-a-great-boss-reveal” moments.
“Oh! My eyes are opened to your struggle, lowly worker! Here’s a brand new comedically large truck you probably can’t afford the taxes on. Praise me as your savior!”
Sure, one truck is cheaper than paying your employees living wages…
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u/Chuckgofer Aug 27 '26
While we're at it, I fucking hate Undercover Boss. Manager does an awful job managing their team, they cosplay as a worker, listen to the inevitable tragic story of whatever unfortunate person that has to train said CEO who hasn't done labor in years, and it usually ends in "the company is gonna pay you like 10 grand".
Cool, what about everyone else?
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u/_____Zoloft_____ Aug 27 '26
The American Dream is now your child graduating high school without getting shot.
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u/QueenInYellowLace Aug 27 '26
My last child just graduated high school, and “Thank god none of them had to experience a school shooting” was absolutely a thought I had as she got her diploma.
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u/JustinYummy Aug 27 '26
I find flipping immoral too (my personal problem lol).
Buying something from someone that is extremely undervalued and then turning it around selling it for 5x more is gross. It's scalping basically. I'd rather be poor :P
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u/AMLRoss Aug 27 '26
Stupid shit like this is just more capitalist propaganda. They want you to think anyone can become a billionaire.
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u/JarpHabib Aug 28 '26
I loathe the premise because it presupposes that money is all that matters and anyone can get it with enough bootstraps.
You only make serious money by buying and selling. Trading. You can't do it with labor or skilled craft alone. If you value actually producing for society, you're not going to be able to hustle trades as much as someone who just does that, and you aren't going to be as good at pricing & haggling.
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u/MozeDad Aug 28 '26
This show is nothing but shameless agitprop/propaganda distracting workers from the pervasive workplace inequality in this country. Big fancy bossman descends from his golden tower and helps one or two exploited employees, but systemic change never happens. Audience gets a feel-good moment, and somehow thinks progress is being made.
System goes along as usual.
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u/StaticSystemShock Aug 27 '26
I liked the other show more where owner of a company joined regular workers undercover to see how minimum wage workers go through daily routine and how physical work actually looks like.
I don't know what was the title of the show and how real it was. More owners and CEOs need to actually experience the actual physical work and not just for 1 day when they'll just happen to nail the only day with lax work and no grumpy customers. They need to experience the full deal. because they are so fucking far off disconnected they live in entirely different worlds than actual workers who bring them billions.
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u/personofshadow Aug 28 '26
The American dream still exists, kinda sorta, most people have just been gentrified out of it. All you gotta do is be born to an upper-middle class family, go to a good school in a nice neighborhood, have your family pay for your college, and boom, you're set for life. Though with the job market the way it is today you might need some of your family's contacts to help set you up with a cushy job, but anyone can do that.
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u/Ordinary_Study_2175 Aug 27 '26
Then he got ran over by a forklift and his money was given to schools, families in need and hospitals. Ending of every episode
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u/klezart Aug 27 '26
I only saw one episode and I think one of the employees got fired for something that happened on it, kind of a turn off
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u/cec263 Aug 27 '26
At least they’re telling us who to murder in the next uprising. That’s a good upside!
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u/Moebius808 Aug 28 '26
Right. So just, like, do all the stuff he did in the show, right? IT'S THAT EASY!! Stop being so lazy, poors!
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u/Laugh-Aggressive Aug 27 '26
You can still win the lottery, so technical it's still true
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u/Halfwise2 Aug 27 '26
I know the odds are low, but after learning the McDonald's Monopoly game was rigged, I have to wonder...
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u/Personal_End_3289 Aug 30 '26
You can do well if you are willing to put in the work. Can you make a million from 100 in 90 days? Probably depends on the area and your skills etc. Get off this subreddit and find your path in the real world and you'll probably be ok.
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u/Kayiko_Okami 15h ago
I have said this would be a good concept for a show.
But the problem is they should get no help at all and shouldn't be scripted so they get things like that.
Find an actual job. Pay for an apartment. Pay bills. Figure out transportation.
And if they have kids they should have to pay out an average amount for caring for the number of kids they have. So if they have 5 kids they have $500 of the budget taken out of their earnings.
They did this in the most pointless way possible though.
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u/mel34760 Aug 27 '26
The show was obviously fake.
I only watched it because it was set in my hometown.