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Newt: Child Labor Laws Are "Truly Stupid"

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BNWriter, Nov 22, 2011.

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  1. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I look at it this way. The better Newt does now, the quicker Perry, Cain and Bachmann get out of the race.
     
    Mizzougrad96, Nov 22, 2011
    #13
  2. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    I doubt it. Cain and Perry got enough money during their bumps to keep them going for a while. Bachmann is running on Jesus fumes or something, because she seems to be running on a mission from God, money or not. And who knows how long a Newt bump can last? (Ewwww, Newt bump.)
     
    Bob Cook, Nov 22, 2011
    #14
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    His idea. ... of firing janitors and hiring kids to do their jobs is stupid. And I don't endorse a thing about Newt Gingrich, who is just a corrupt politician cloaked in rhetoric.

    But the reality is that child labor laws in the west didn't end children working instead of going to school. The lack of economic necessity for them to work is what stopped the practice. People will choose for themselves and their kids to eat instead of starve. When that isn't the choice, they instinctually protect their children.
     
    The Big Ragu, Nov 22, 2011
    #15
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    For the record, I thought what he said was stupid, but based on some of the stupid things I've heard in the last few months, this barely registers...
     
    Mizzougrad96, Nov 22, 2011
    #16
  5. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Ah yes, the miracle of the free market, the solution to all social ills.
     
    Starman, Nov 22, 2011
    #17
  6. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    http://www.vahistorical.org/exhibits/hine_crusade.htm

    It was the opposite. There were plenty of efforts to pass child labor laws for 30 years (often struck down by courts). But when adults became willing to take the lower-paying jobs for children during the Depression, THAT'S what effectively ended child labor. So it wasn't a lack of economic necessity for kids to work that ended child labor. It was an economic necessity for kids to get out of the way so the adults could work.

    Still, your point is true that the laws didn't happen, or have widespread support, just because they were the Right Thing To Do.
     
    Bob Cook, Nov 22, 2011
    #18
  7. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    I'm not a political person but this Gingrich quote from "The Thanksgiving Family Forum" pissed me off:

    "I think what makes us different and what makes us in some ways when we have good leadership, much more ruthless and much tougher than any other country in the world, is we don't send soldiers and sailors and Marines and airmen to war.
    We send our children. We send our fathers. We send our brothers and sisters. We send our mothers, and therefore there's a preciousness to this decision, unlike any other country I know of. I think our position has been historic."

    Does he think your allies are sending robots?
     
    HC, Nov 22, 2011
    #19
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Bob, There were people advocating against child labor during colonial times. In the early 1800s it was early trade unions that led the charge, to protect their members' jobs. But the practice continued until it did because of economic necessities. The economic realities were that in the early days of industrialization, economically many people were faced with the choice of sending their kids to work or having trouble feeding their families.

    During the great depression, things got as dire as you said. . But as I said, economic necessity is the only reason most people will send their kids to work. FDR got the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, because he was trying to get adults jobs in an economy that had unemployment at sky high levels, not because he was trying to protect children. The act didn't practically end child labor and it didn't create jobs for adults.

    It was the prosperity of post WWII America that ended the practice in this country, not people developing a conscience or government protecting kids. People will send their children to work to keep their families from starving. When that isn't the economic choice they are faced with, they naturally protect their children.
     
    The Big Ragu, Nov 22, 2011
    #20
  9. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    Know what's really dumb? Statutory rape laws. Just idiotic. Plus, the way these young girls dress these days they're practically asking for it, y'know? Dump the labor and rape laws and your platform could be "work 'em, and then REALLY work 'em." Heh heh. Heh Heh. Hee.
     
    BitterYoungMatador2, Nov 22, 2011
    #21
  10. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    The threat of rape will probably get those child-workers to pick up the pace too. More increased productivity!! Increased profits!!! Another Free-Market Miracle!!
     
    Starman, Nov 22, 2011
    #22
  11. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    And more profits can be squeezed out if we just give them one bowl of mush for lunch! They can also skip breakfast, because it's been proven that eating breakfast makes them work slower. And they better not dare ask for more.
     
    Baron Scicluna, Nov 22, 2011
    #23
  12. Guy_Incognito

    Guy_Incognito Well-Known Member

    What do those two have in common?
     
    Guy_Incognito, Nov 22, 2011
    #24
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