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Child labor laws were enacted in the 1930s fyi, its not new for capitalists to use children.
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2023
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My point is kids were doing labor way before any economic system was in place and regardless of which system was in place.
Capitalism has a ton of flaws but it is not behind child labor as OP suggests
This is fallacious. There doesn't have to be only 1 cause. Capitalism could be the reason child labor exists in the modern world, while there being other systems that can also support child labor.
The point is there are systems that don't support child labor.
What systems do you think haven't supported or used child labor? Every single society has utilized child labor or still does as again farming is a thing and most farms will have kids doing some work.
The idea that child labor is due to an economic philosophy rather than specific conditions is fallacious. Kids labor because we need them to and they do not do labor when we are fortunate enough to not need the labor they can provide.
We don't have an accurate history of every society that has ever existed, so your claim is unverifiable. Don't make impossible to verify claims.
I wouldn't say a system supports child labor if it's outlawed and heavily punished. In the same way that I'd say a system doesn't support murder if it's outlawed and heavily punished. Sure, every society we know of has had murderers, and child laborers might exist in the same capacity in most societies, even if they're outlawed, but it's not supported by said system.
Also, my claim was that a system exists where child labor isn't allowed. Even if that system has never been put into practice (it definitely has, but just for the sake of argument), it's obviously true. Maybe you're unconcerned with hypothetical systems, and you're absolutely convinced that the only practical systems that can exist are ones where we rely on the labor of children to succeed. You'd be a fool if you believe that, but I understand some people are foolish.
We don't need an accurate history of every society to make my claim. We only need to know that farms exist and how farming works in the time before widespread industrialization and electrification.
The fact is at harvest everyone is working sunup to sunset as pre-outdoor lighting you need as many hands harvesting to get produce while it is ripe so you limit loss to rot and pests. That means throughout history kids were working on the farm for AT LEAST harvest (realistically it is safe to presume they worked much of the year).
As every society needs food you should not be surprised to discover every single one has some degree of child labor.
So what system doesn't involve child labor? And why us child labor a product of economic ideology when every single system has involved some degree of child labor?
Let's not start calling people fools as right now you are making a very bold claim that is easily dismissed by anyone who worked a farm
Your claim was that every single society had used child labor, that's unverifiable. You claim that you know this because every society requires food, picked by kids instead of adults.
What's actually really cool is that adults can also pick food in a farm, it's not a job exclusive to kids. You might be surprised to learn that the vast majoriry of farmers in the world are actually adults.
Society doesn't need child labor to survive. More labor helps during times of hardship, but we can just send the capitalists to work instead of having them force the children to do it.
What systems are those?
I mean even from the most obnoxious campist perspective, both the USSR and communist China have plenty of documented examples of Child labor which are arguably worse than anything in the US.