Newt Gingrich wants more child labor

[Elok]

Okay, so he only wants it in one specific, limited context: one that will teach The Poor the value of working hard at things other than lusting after white women. Perhaps CNN left out the part where he mentioned that it would be character-building for students who weren't in poverty, maybe made it sound less condescending. I don't know. Anyway, here it is:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/19/gingrich-laws-preventing-child-labor-are-truly-stupid/?iref=obnetwork

(scary campaign commercial voice-over) "Newt Gingrich wants to REPEAL child labor laws. And he's actually stupid enough to say so on the campaign trail."

[Hauldren Collider]

There's nothing wrong with kids taking on jobs, Elok, as long as they aren't exploitative (something that is only possible with child labor, as we have decided that children can't make their own decisions)

I would be very upset if child labor laws had prevented me from getting work.

[Elok]

I agree that it's not a bad thing for a kid to learn the value of work. I do not think it was wise for Gingrich to call child labor laws dumb, and his whole speech makes him sound kind of detached from reality from where I'm standing. Yes, twelve-year-old children will feel pride in their school after scrubbing its toilets! And that will be the beginning of their rise to prosperity!

[Elok]

"This is my plan for a better America: fire a bunch of adults and replace them with a crew of children working after school."

[DaShi]

I guess we've found HC's candidate.

[Hauldren Collider]

"This is my plan for a better America: fire a bunch of adults and replace them with a crew of children working after school."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Gingrich. I happen to think that more kids working would be a good thing, though he might be taking it to a bit of an extreme.

[Kidlicious]

There's nothing wrong with kids taking on jobs, Elok, as long as they aren't exploitative (something that is only possible with child labor, as we have decided that children can't make their own decisions)

I would be very upset if child labor laws had prevented me from getting work.

Wait. Are you under 16?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

There's nothing wrong with kids taking on jobs, Elok, as long as they aren't exploitative (something that is only possible with child labor, as we have decided that children can't make their own decisions)

I would be very upset if child labor laws had prevented me from getting work.

The problem is that many of these proposals really are outright exploitation, often in the name of providing kids with a step up. For instance, our governor has proposed increasing the number of hours a teen can work while in school and lowering the starting age, but only if they take jobs with "training wages" that are below minimum wage. Now, I understand that some people have problems with minimum wages in general, but I fail to see how that sort of proposal isn't exploitative.

[Elok]

Specifically the poor kids who are attending failing schools. No, don't try to improve the failing schools, that's a fool's errand. Instead, get them good and accustomed to manual labor during the hours that would otherwise be unprofitably spent on things like "homework" and "studying."

[Hauldren Collider]

Personally, I think a job should be part of our educational process. School doesn't do enough to teach kids how to actually live life. I think our education system would be vastly more effective just by having some sort of optional work-study system in the last couple years of high school.

[Elok]

This is already the case, or something much like it, in Queen Anne's County, MD. Kids learn things like masonry, auto repair and welding. I think they earn money too, but I'm not sure.

[Hauldren Collider]

At TJ we had an internship program where you could work at various technology companies as part of your required senior research lab credit. Obviously that's not an option for most schools, but the internship program is very successful--many TJ students end up working at the companies they interned for at TJ after they graduate college.

[Kidlicious]

HC is proof that child labor doesn't build character. If you want to build their character stop buying them so much.

[Hauldren Collider]

On the contrary, kidicious, working minimum wage at a grocery store taught me a whole lot of things, such as not to look down on people who work unskilled jobs and to be willing to do unpleasant things when told. I'm ashamed to admit that there was a time when this was not the case for me.

I think that job taught me some of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned, and I couldn't have learned them in school.

[Kidlicious]

On the contrary, kidicious, working minimum wage at a grocery store taught me a whole lot of things, such as not to look down on people who work unskilled jobs and to be willing to do unpleasant things when told. I'm ashamed to admit that there was a time when this was not the case for me.

I think that job taught me some of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned, and I couldn't have learned them in school.

A grocery store? Probably a bag boy. Work in a slaughterhouse for A LIVING! then talk to me about character. Kids!