ABC News Friday night aired an investigative report called “The Blueberry Children” about the blueberry farms in Michigan using child labor as young as five years old. Disgusting. This shows how the “free market” that ignores regulations can devolve into this crap.
For the complete story click HERE.
Photo credit: ABC News
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
that crap you call the free market allowes you to have the abilety to write this crapy storey mybe insted of bagging walmart and are free market why dont you find out where this kids abusive parents are and if these jobs are so bad why are these people jumping the borders to work there kids there is nothing wrong with market its our goverment and the big change not enforcing border control wh dont you go down there and champion these poor abused children see how much you like there free market idiot…………….
I had no idea freakin’ mindless right wingnuts read this site too. These tea baggers go ballistic when you criticize their corporate masters. They have no idea what’s in their best interests. Just keep following the sheep in front of you as you walk off the cliff…
Free market and free speech are two pair of shoe, just to start with. Free market means you have to be cheaper to compete. Cheaper means lower quality, and I count GM as lowest quality possible. Cheaper means you are going to pay less to your employers, down to the point you use foreign child labour (as depicted). If your are a stock-market listed company, you don’t have to make your employers happy, nor your customers (only to the degree that they keep on buying your stuff), but your shareholders. How fucked up is that? So yes, there needs to be a regulation to a certain degree, or our little republican might have to pay the next bailout, too. Free market my ass.
Jerry, intelligent, respectful discussion of an opposite point of view is always welcome. Debate is part of what makes this country great. However, condescending, illiterate name calling is not and doesn’t warrant any type of respect. Think before you speak.
Jerry, either you are the person you are or you are pretending to be someone you are not. In either case your intellectual comments are only exceeded by your shoe size.
My child is an young entrepreneur and would definitely put these kids out of business for his willingness to get ahead by working hard. The thing about Capitalism is that it rewards those that are willing to work, even if you are 6 years old like my son.
“These tea baggers go ballistic when you criticize their corporate masters”
Tom, I really appreciated Growing Edge. I had no idea you were so inflammatory. I run my own business and appreciate the Constitution for the freedoms that it gives with being rewarded for hard work. My “corporate master” is me. I don’t like multinational corporations for the bureaucracy, but you really insult small business, which is the heart of the American economy. Please don’t villainize those who took the risk to make our economy tick. Please remember that you used to be one of them.
@red-icculus-first off, you probably are aware that we have child labor laws in place because of drastic abuses, even deaths, of the use of children as laborers. Everybody doesn’t have the best interests of the child in mind when they put them to work. The almighty dollar is god to many of these people.
Secondly, I am not against capitalism. But if you think we have capitalism as things stand right now, you are sadly mistaken. We have a corporate dictated monopoly. When you go to the corporate bank to get a loan to operate your stable, money making business, the chances are good you will be rejected while risky corporate operators get as much credit as they want.
So you support child labor? We shouldn’t have laws on the books against child labor because it is an insult to small business? Please…
If you are worried about child abuse or death, then don’t abuse children or kill them. There are already laws against that.
I have never been rejected for a loan to operate my computer business. I am not threatened by Microsoft or Dell, because they can’t offer the customer service that I can. They are hardly a monopoly. Why do you villainize them? They pay taxes just like the rest of us. Unfortunately, I probably pay more. I think your preconceptions are misguided.