Quote Originally Posted by Fengzi
....Your example of children working in places like Indonesia is a perfect example. My personal belief is that folks on the far left are actually making the situation worse for the children. I didn't just pull this out of my ass, this comes from having degrees in both International Business and East Asian studies. It is also an opinion held by many very knowledgable people. It's been over 10 years since I got out of school so I honestly don't remember the names of any specific references, but if you go to any college library and hunt around a bit you'll find some.

You see, the sad fact is that in some countries children must work. Yes, it would be wonderful if this wasn't the reality, and that they could all go to school and eventually become Harvard scholars, but that is just a dream. The families need the children to work so they will. It is not a situation where if the factory didn't exist they'd be in cute little uniforms at the local school. If the factory didn't exist they'd be working out in the fields with the heat, sun, and poisonous snakes(lots of them). Or in many cases prostituting themselves on the street. This is not an exageration, this is reality.

So, "how is the situation made worse by the folks on the far left?", you may ask. Because they are delusional and can't see reality. A big company like Nike, for eaxample, could set up a program where kids work in a factory for part of the day and go to a factory school part of the day. They could manage it in a way that would meet all of the families needs. Instead, the folks on the far left have demonized child labor to the point where no major company will touch it. Even though something like that would be extremely beneficial, if Nike were to set something like that up it woould be a public relations disaster. So, instead of working in a factory where things could be controlled they work in factories run by unscrupulous people who don't give a damn about the kids.

Of course, big corporations could just decide to feed and cloth all the worlds poor. A solution usually favored by my neighbors up in Berzerkely But let's face it, there's a better chance Santa Claus will solve the problem.
Many societies cannot survive without some child labor - even if it is in the home, helping the parents. I started working at various jobs at a young age, and it didn't kill me. In the past, many Europeans and Americans were indentured servants from their early teens, which was a type of slavery. Having regulated workplaces for children in the less fortunate societies is far better than what many of our ancestors went through right here in the U.S.A., Europe, and elsewhere.

There are some well-off kids that are getting credit in the media for rabble rousing against child labor. These kids' parents are no doubt behind their crusade - but they inherited a stable economic situation and nice lifestyle. Most of the world's population, unfortunately, is not born with a silver spoon and does not have these privileges.