Child labour

[Conspicuous Cultist]

Yeah, a lot of the clothes I'm wearing is probably from child labor.

But then again that's what you come to expect when all you can afford is wall-mart.

[Tommy T]

Don't really care to be honest.

Tired of all this hipster bullshit. Let me buy what the fuck I want, where I want, with the money I earn. If you want to make a stand, then good for you. You'll never change anything, but if it makes you feel good about yourself, all the power to you.

[Shinra1]

Nice fairy tale land you dream of living in. These people are inpoor countries where their governments clearly don't give a shit, keeping these kids working beats starving or other awful things that could happen.

Fairytale? Are you serious? The only fairytale is the one that you concocted by pretending like you buying child labour goods akin to charity is you just doing your bit. You're truly delusional.

What's the point of living if you're working for 18+ hours a day for pennies? Life is more than drawing breath and merely staying alive. You also have to think about the quality of life that your shopping habits inflicts on their unfortunate lives.

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Unfortunately what "should be" has no bearing on reality.

That sounds like you have given up on them.

[user531345]

I think child labor is wrong..but with the recent election results most americans disagree with me, you know i dont think that people should work 80 hours a weak for 5 pennies an hour, but the american people tend to disagree with me also. Hey if people like the 1920s economic policies, then great, but i prefer the new deal and the economic policies that created the middle class..but i guess im just a commie lefty. so yeah, majority of people think children who are born poor should be forced to work, and i dont, whether its their fault or not.


Also in terms of developing nations, if they follow the rule of our new deal and institute minimum wage, welfare programs and redistribution via estate taxes they can see positive results, however big business and foreign corporate interest seem to own their government in many cases.

[Shinra1]

I think child labor is wrong..but with the recent election results most americans disagree with me, you know i dont think that people should work 80 hours a weak for 5 pennies an hour, but the american people tend to disagree with me also. Hey if people like the 1920s economic policies, then great, but i prefer the new deal and the economic policies that created the middle class..but i guess im just a commie lefty. so yeah, majority of people think children who are born poor should be forced to work, and i dont, whether its their fault or not.

This well done

[Deleted]

I think it's convenient to pretend to care for the welfare of the poor families that benefit from child labour as it aligns with your pocket. The alternative is for the big companies and providers to pay families a fair wage. Child labour is the not the answer, yes it may the lesser of two evils however children should not be responsible to their families to such an extent. The parents should be taking care of their children enough so the children do not have to work. Children should be free to do what they will until adulthood, when they fend for themselves. They should not be forced to take on a mature role at such a young age. The low wage is not the only issue with child labour it's also the fact that children are mistreated and put into horrendous working conditions where they risk their lives everyday working for more than 18 hours a day.

Do you think that these children work because their parents are too lazy to? Is that it? Nah, boo-boo, that ain't it. Their governments don't give a flying fuck about anything that happens to its people. And if the government doesn't give a shit then who puts pressure on employers to give fair wages? And if employers decide wages then they'll only pay the absolute minimum amount that ensures that one employee survives between one workday to the next. This means that one paycheck typically only covers one person in terms of essential supplies. So even if both parents work full-time there's not nearly enough money to feed a child for extended periods of time. It's not about standard of living in these countries, that's not a relevant concern for these people, it's about surviving and perhaps earn just enough money not to be forced to do things that no human should have to do to survive. That's why children work in these countries.

If you want to help children in these countries then you do not start with removing their livelihood. You start with the government and make sure they take care of their own, when they do, then and only then can you start to safely shut down factories and plantations that you feel are unfair. Do this is in any other order and you're directly responsible for loss of life, keep that in mind. And I do not care what you think to believe my intentions are. I have nothing to prove to you other than that your logic is flawed and dangerous.

[Shinra1]

Do you think that these children work because their parents are too lazy to? Is that it? Nah, boo-boo, that ain't it. Their governments don't give a flying fuck about anything that happens to its people. And if the government doesn't give a shit then who puts pressure on employers to give fair wages? And if employers decide wages then they'll only pay the absolute minimum amount that ensures that one employee survives between one workday to the next. This means that one paycheck typically only covers one person in terms of essential supplies. So even if both parents work full-time there's not nearly enough money to feed a child for extended periods of time. It's not about standard of living in these countries, that's not a relevant concern for these people, it's about surviving and perhaps earn just enough money not to be forced to do things that no human should have to do to survive. That's why children work in these countries.

If you want to help children in these countries then you do not start with removing their livelihood. You start with the government and make sure they take care of their own, when they do, then and only then can you start to safely shut down factories and plantations that you feel are unfair. Do this is in any other order and you're directly responsible for loss of life, keep that in mind. And I do not care what you think to believe my intentions are. I have nothing to prove to you other than that your logic is flawed and dangerous.

You're completely brainwashed. Believing that you're benefiting these children and their families is beyond ridiculous.

You're promoting the perpetual exploitation of children - what you're supporting - the lesser evil that you speak of is a vicious and unbreakable cycle. A blatant fear-mongering tactic employed to maintain the purchase of child labour produced goods and you've been indoctrinated into that cycle if you truly, truly believe that you're doing these poor children a favour.

I still maintain that life is more than just living and that quality of life is important.

The governments won't listen to people like me as long as the greedy and misguided majority remain subscribed to the purchase of cheap labour produced clothing and other goods.


We need to send a wave to the corrupted governments and European corporations that are preying on children for a better bottom line.

[Revi]

That sounds like you have given up on them.

Or I just don't think we should take away these people's only way of putting food on the table without first having a better alternative in place.

[Deleted]

You're completely brainwashed. Believing that you're benefiting these children and their families is beyond ridiculous.

You're promoting the perpetual exploitation of children - what you're supporting - the lesser evil that you speak of is a vicious and unbreakable cycle. A blatant fear-mongering tactic employed to maintain the purchase of child labour produced goods and you've been indoctrinated into that cycle if you truly, truly believe that you're doing these poor children a favour.

I still maintain that life is more than just living and that quality of life is important.

The governments won't listen to people like me as long as the greedy and misguided majority remain subscribed to the purchase of cheap labour produced clothing and other goods.


We need to send a wave to the corrupted governments and European corporations that are preying on children for a better bottom line.

If that's what you need to tell yourself to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience then so be it. I'll stick to my view of reality and you stick to yours. Anyway, I'm done with you since it's clear we're not operating in the same universe.

[Deleted]

"We're turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers, but what's the real cost because the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper. Why are we still paying so much for sneakers when you've got little kid slaves making them, what're your overheads?"

[Revi]

"We're turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers, but what's the real cost because the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper. Why are we still paying so much for sneakers when you've got little kid slaves making them, what're your overheads?"

Flight of the Conchords reference <3

[Shinra1]

If that's what you need to tell yourself to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience then so be it. I'll stick to my view of reality and you stick to yours. Anyway, I'm done with you since it's clear we're not operating in the same universe.

Translation: I'll continue to exploit children for cheap clothing.

[zealo]

Translation: I'll continue to exploit children for cheap clothing.

Translation: Do not realise that simply removing source of income for them without dealing with the root problem first is not a solution.

[endersblade]

That's so evil.


How can you sleep at night?

I sleep on a pillow made at the cost of a thousand children laboring to death.

OK, I really stretched for that one.

I don't give a shit. At least they have jobs and possibly food to eat. Better than starving to death. It's too bad we can't get those lazy people in Africa surviving on handouts to start making shit for first world countries, then at least they'd earn their keep.

[Zathrendar]

Child labour is unfortunate... except that there's few alternatives in some places, and not buying clothes that are produced in this way or forcing these companies to pay a "fair wage", whatever the hell that is, eliminating any point in using this production method, will just mean these kids end up without income. Besides, economic development is the thing that will do the most to eliminate it. It is a bigger issue that parents in some places have kids with the explicit purpose of getting them to provide an income, and if they weren't doing so in a factory, it'd be on a farm, which would be even worse, in spite of the romanticisation of agrarian life.

I blame their incompetent or downright evil governments (China's being one of the worst given what it inflicted on its citizens over the past 100 years) for their current situation, not the companies that provide them alternatives to farm labour or worse, or the consumers of these products.

[endersblade]

Fairytale? Are you serious? The only fairytale is the one that you concocted by pretending like you buying child labour goods akin to charity is you just doing your bit. You're truly delusional.

What's the point of living if you're working for 18+ hours a day for pennies? Life is more than drawing breath and merely staying alive. You also have to think about the quality of life that your shopping habits inflicts on their unfortunate lives.

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That sounds like you have given up on them.

So it's perfectly all right to have adults working 18+ hours a day for pennies, slaving away and barely able to feed themselves, but OMG THINK OF THE POOR CHILDREN! Onoz, not the children! Mother fucker I was bailing hay and driving a tractor when I was 10, and I wasn't getting paid for it. I had to get up at 5 in the morning to feed the animals before walking 5 miles to school, come rain or shine. America has its own versions of child labor, but everyone seems to be OK with that.

[Shurkuris]

I guess that explains to why half of my customers for Yard Work are in the 20-30 year range. They were so damn spoiled as a child, that they never did so much as picking up leaves on their own lawn. They give me funny looks when I mention very lightly that they might want to do some work themselves.

Let's keep teaching children growing up to be young adults the value of being lazy asses.





People are so damn spoiled nowadays, back when humans didn't have mass production, stores, and large communities. You spent from the day you could pick up a weed till the day you died, always working.

[poser765]

I still maintain that life is more than just living and that quality of life is important.

I agree with you...but like you (more than likely) I come from and live in a first world country. I can afford luxuries like a 40 hour work week and not having to send my child to work in a factory for pennies. Some people in some parts of the world don't have that option. You see, kids aren't going to work so they can make extra allowance or to help out mom and dad who are just fiscally irresponsible. They are literally forced to work so they and their family can eat...to survive. What others have brought up and what you have failed to explain, is how that desperately needed income is replaced if those kids are no longer able to work.

Now it breaks my heart that kids in the world are forced to endure horrid working conditions and are being stripped of their childhood, but it breaks my heart even more thinking about what they would have to do to survive if they didn't have those shitty opportunities to work. Is that the lesser of two evils? Sure, but think about what we would be doing if we as the first world just decided to stop buying products produced with questionable labor practices. We would be treating a symptom and not the disease. Nobody benefits there...except us bleeding heart first worlders.

[Deleted]

What are the alternatives then? What other, less evil, activity will provide food on the table for these children and their families? You know what's scary? Your best intentions are putting kids on the street to starve, be rented to pedophiles or worse, sold into a lifetime of slavery. And the worst part is that you and others like you are absolutely convinced you're doing a good thing for these kids. I wonder who is delusional here.

I think you are quite delusional if you think that children would be sold to pedophiles if it weren't for child labour. Is this the best justification you can come up with?

[poser765]

I think you are quite delusional if you think that children would be sold to pedophiles if it weren't for child labour. Is this the best justification you can come up with?

You're right...sex trafficking is a totally made up thing. Nobody is saying that if kids can't work in factories they are all going into child prostitution...what we are saying is people do what they need to do to survive...including sex work.