This New Gilded Age 0
LZ Granderson wonders whether Republicans have ever read any of the works of Charles Dickens.
Here’s how his article starts:
High school freshman girls should not double as cocktail waitresses at night.
That’s not a sentence I thought needed to be said, but here we are in 2023, and conservative lawmakers in more than 10 states are making efforts to roll back child labor laws. Cocktail waitress is just one of the disturbing occupations floated as appropriate work for children.
Iowa enacted a law last month allowing more kids to work more dangerous jobs. In Arkansas, a 14-year-old would no longer need to show an employer proof of parental approval.
Now the arguments against this movement are painfully obvious, but the so-called case for child labor requires unpacking.
Follow the link for the unpacking.
Afterthought:
As Republicans reintroduce child labor while barring immigrants who are willing to work, I am again reminded of Professor Shade’s mantra, “History is irony.”
