Thread: Child Labour: Is It Really That Bad?

Err.. you might wanna consider changing the subject of the thread.
I honestly believed this was about childbirth pain
Maybe its just me .. heh.

Perhaps 'Forced Child Labour' would be more obvious? or hmm.... dunno

Nah, it's clear and consice English. You've just got babies on the brain.

Originally posted by Kaniaz
Nah, it's clear and consice English. You've just got babies on the brain.

Hehe... maybe Probably after I found out about baby sign language...

yeah you're right... exploiting children around the world and selling them into a form of slavery is a good idea. denying them education while paying them meager wages that require them to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week to pay for bread for their family... it's a good idea. yes. all while giving them absolutely no medical benefits when they live in regions where disease runs rampant and kills off their friends and family... of course this is a good idea... all so we can buy the shoes from these selfless companies that enslave them... the shoes that are marked up 400% when they hit the states... great idea. yay capitalism! how could this be bad!?!?! thanks to you i despise the species just a little bit more now.

I'm actually doing the Gilded Age, and trust me, child labor is no good thing.

I was about to vote neither but I saw that adidas had a point(even though it's his shoe company doing it ). Why not ship schoold and hospitals over and give them a working economy eventualy too? Also, Don't forget that everyone's mad at Bush for tempting these companys to send jobs overseas while weakening our own economy.

Thirdly, think of the consequences if Nike or these other companies started manufacturing their products in North America or decided to pay the children in these countries 6 or 7 bucks/hour. The prices of their products would increase dramatically in order to keep profits up (We can't fault a company for trying to turn a profit, right?). Personally, I think $80 is pretty steep for a nice pair of jeans, I wouldn't want to be paying $180.[/b]

I guess you don't completely know how our government works. The government taxes imports so that it costs just as much to make something outside the U.S. as inside.

its not good. not when they get beaten if they dont work hard enough. not when they got to work 'til they faint.
it would be cool if the big companies decided to build a hospital and a school near their factories. in exchange of education and medical treatment the children could work in the factory a couple of hours a day and on weekends. or why not build a whole little village around the factory where the family get a place to sleep and live in exchange for their work. it would be really cool. and a happy worker is a good worker

Originally posted by dreamwalker007
I was about to vote neither but I saw that adidas had a point(even though it's his shoe company doing it ). Why not ship schoold and hospitals over and give them a working economy eventualy too? Also, Don't forget that everyone's mad at Bush for tempting these companys to send jobs overseas while weakening our own economy.

Nope, brain drain has taken care of that...

well first of all, not every company that builds factories overseas or across the border practices "sweat shop" labor -- meaning workers are neglected, etc -- most don't do this. But the ones that do abuse the workers, etc are the only ones reported on, so that is the only picture we get most of the time. The countless others doing good, we never hear about -- not from the media anyways.

Several companies that build factories outside the US in "poor" countries also build a community around that factory. They build schools for the children, houses for the workers and their families to live in, and pay wages higher than the average wage of the country. Only you won't read about these companies in the newspapers or see about them on TV, so for most people these companies don't exist, and they only wished companies were doing things like this... well news flash: they are. Companies that abuse and neglect their workers are in the vast minority of all companies that build/expand overseas/across-the-border

Originally posted by adidas
yeah you're right... exploiting children around the world and selling them into a form of slavery is a good idea. denying them education while paying them meager wages that require them to work 14 hour days, 6 days a week to pay for bread for their family... it's a good idea. yes. all while giving them absolutely no medical benefits when they live in regions where disease runs rampant and kills off their friends and family... of course this is a good idea... all so we can buy the shoes from these selfless companies that enslave them... the shoes that are marked up 400% when they hit the states... great idea. yay capitalism! how could this be bad!?!?! thanks to you i despise the species just a little bit more now.

What he said.

The capitalist bastards are the only ones benefitting from the situation. If they wanted they could provide shelter, food, clothing and benefits to every one of their workers, bring the country out of poverty, and still have enough to fill their fat guts with steak every damn night and drive their overpriced cars. But no, apparently it's better to give them JUST enough to survive, because then they keep coming back. They have no other choice. Brilliant system, really.

Thanks dream-scape for mentioning those great points. You guys/gals seem to think that every company in the world is evil. The typical "sweatshop" you see described in a Michael Moore movie is only common in popular media, not in reality.

The fundamental purpose of any company is to make money. Capitalism is what allows you to have that nice computer you're sitting at and what allows you to live in a nice houses and go to a nice school. Be careful before you slap the hand that feeds you.

How are we to put a true opinion here about this issue, merely we sit back in our cosy houses and in our nice shoes, talking about problems that we couldn't remotely comprehend, or relate to. Im hypocritical, yes.

The media does only show 0.00000001% of what really happens. It's a world issue, companies can't just start buiulding schools and paying workers more, it's way beyond that. It lies in a deep rooted 'equal opportunity' human problem that is inherent in every structure of society. While i personally don't gratify my input into this subject, i certanly don't justify it. Imagine a 1% increase on every single consumable item in your contry, and put that into society growth initiatives such as health and education. 50 years time that kid making a Nike shoe, well shit he might be able to have bread with his rice, isn't that extra $1 yous spent on fancy surf shorts worth it, knowing a kid might of smiled for the second time that day??

We can't really relate can we? Well, if it would really help, I think most of us would be willing to bitchslap the hand that feeds us if it means those less fortunate might live better.

Then again we can't be sure if it does. But then again, we don't really know what they could be doing if they weren't in child labour. Perhaps farming or school or something. I don't know.

i'd just like to say that my name isn't supposed to reflect my allegiance to a shoe company... it's an acronym for something else.

it should also be noted that our government protects companies like nike and adidas with loose tariffs and generous subsidies.

Did you guys just decide to ignore what dream-scape wrote? It's funny how you are so willing to believe the media when it comes to them reporting on child labour (they would be hung if they even implied that it wasn't terrible, people would lose their jobs), but absolutely refuse to believe the media when it comes to issues of the government and war, even when those stories are written by agencies like the Associated Press who have no allegiance to any government.

Just a thought.

ummm well if i'm not mistaken the topic is child labor not how the media portrays companies that farm work out of third world nations.... and my point still stands...

We're not talking about how the media portrays the companies, its how they portray the facts about child labour. Child labour and child slavery and not the same thing.

Boy, it is really hard to find good information on child labour.

The way I see it, the issue is not how the media portrays it or not...it is not whether it is the worst working environment or not. It is about injustice. No matter how you see the issue it is always blatantly there. These children do not deserve to be working their childhood away while some fat executive bastard is being paid thousand of dollars a day for doing 1/2000th of the work that those kids are doing. For figuring out more ways in which they can cut costs so that he can earn even more money to build up his ego. I wish that those kids could save up for like 5-7 years and buy a computer so that they can go ahead and post their point of view on how great everything is for them.

It severly pisses me off that people are rich beyond their spending capacity when others are so poor that they can't even go to school because they desperately need to work to get paid an amount of money that if you find on the floor you may think twice before you perform the great effort of bending down to pick it up.

I know that there is little ways of not sounding hypocritical when taking this stance, but all I can say is that at the moment I am complying with the system for I truly don't have much of a choice that is truly going to make a difference. Not yet, and perhaps not ever. But I wouldn't think twice before I fucking beat the hell out of the hand that feeds me. I would do anything within my power if I knew that it would result in making things right and fair again. If I knew we could rescue the values of humanity that have been lost behind a dollar sign that rules the ways people think. I would let go of all the commodities I have to make sure that everyone would have what they need. We can move on from there forth.

Funny, I bet those kids dream of living in a capitalist society like America.

If I was them I would too....people in misery always dream of being at the top, always dream of moving upwards and getting what they deserve...

That doesn't justtify the fact that the system is unfair and that the economy is unevenly distributed in a way that an average american worker can probably work for one year, then move to a poor 3rd world country and live like a king for a decade or more. It is always great to be on the top of the pyramid...

Child labor is nto a good thing at all. I understand that factories do move over seas to decrese their exspenses, but that is no reaosn for innocant children to be forced to work. I do belive, however, that comapnies cna go into a community and create jobs and a better standard of living for many many people. I also, understand the some poor fasmilies need thier children to work so they can survie. If child labor were to be abolished, some familes may starev beacse there owukldtn be enoguh income for them to survie. Child labor is Morrley worng, but unfortantly it is economicly sound for some poor people in 3rd world countires. Ooh, I cant decide... I belive it is morrly wrong, but is equaly worng to haev whoel family starev to death ebacse their children cannot work.... I would be 100% aganist it if buissnesses coudl come into town and pay adults enghout o support the whoel family, but anything less, well then it gets kinda grey for me....

Originally posted by bradybaker
We're not talking about how the media portrays the companies, its how they portray the facts about child labour. Child labour and child slavery and not the same thing.

well, you asked about child labor... child labor is in a sense child slavery. these companies set up shop in financially ravaged cities, they offer the children and families money, money that they need to survive... i don't see much choice in the matter if you're starving. then they pay them enough to live. in return the children are deprived of an education and forced to work for money/food. -- the media portrays the facts on child labor true... they show one side of it... they show the dark side... now how does that make them any less reputable facts... and how does that make child labor any different from slavery? it doesn't. of course the companies give the families money... but it's not enough to earn a better life... it's just enough for the families to get by.

so with you're logic i can give a homeless man just enough money for food and shelter as long as he devotes the majority of his waking hours to me and my needs. and if he gets hurt helping me i'll just get another homeless man... so on and so forth.

child labor is bad. to find the good in it is like finding good in slavery. "well gee, we got those blacks out of the jungle, put a roof over their head and gave them food... WE'RE HELPING THEM!"

Originally posted by adidas+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adidas)</div>

child labor is in a sense child slavery[/b]

Originally posted by adidas+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adidas)</div>

how does that make child labor any different from slavery? it doesn't.[/b]

Those are two very different statements. You should make up your mind. I disagree with both of them however, last time I checked slavery didn't involve paying those who were doing the work.

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in return the children are deprived of an education

Please see dream-scape's post.

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these companies set up shop in financially ravaged cities, they offer the children and families money, money that they need to survive... i don't see much choice in the matter if you're starving. then they pay them enough to live. in return the children are deprived of an education and forced to work for money/food.

Umm...over here in good old North America couldn't you say that we are \"forced\" to work to survive. Why do we work? So that we can have a home and something to eat. For a significant percentage of our great \"Western civilization\", that's all they get, a home and something to eat.

Originally posted by adidas+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adidas)</div>

they show one side of it... they show the dark side... now how does that make them any less reputable facts[/b]

Please see dream-scape's post.

Originally posted by adidas@
of course the companies give the families money... but it's not enough to earn a better life... it's just enough for the families to get by.

Just like here in North America. I think you might be living too comfortably in the middle class. Maybe you should donate some of that money to starving children in Ethiopia?

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so with you're logic i can give a homeless man just enough money for food and shelter as long as he devotes the majority of his waking hours to me and my needs.

Again, look at the lower class of America, people living below the poverty line.

I'm not saying that child labour is the best idea ever concieved, I'm simply saying that it's definitely not as bas as most people seem to think. Would you rather live in a communist society where everyone gets their share? Yeah, I don't see any problems in that theory...do you?