A Presidency for Those Looking to Revive Child Labor
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In addition to being a donor, DeVos has served on Acton’s Board of Directors for 10 years. The Institute is a non-profit research organization “dedicated to the study of free-market economics informed by religious faith and moral absolutes.”
In a recent blog post, an Acton Institute writer and project coordinator showed his dedication to something else: child labor.
The post’s author, Joseph Sunde, argues that work is a “gift” that we are denying American children. After all, Sunde concludes, the child laborers of America’s past were “actively building enterprises and cities” and “using their gifts to serve their communities.”
Some especially disturbing highlights from Sunde’s piece:
In our policy and governing institutions, what if we put power back in the hands of parents and kids, dismantling the range of excessive legal restrictions, minimum wage fixings, and regulations that lead our children to work less and work later?
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Let us not just teach our children to play hard and study well, shuffling them through a long line of hobbies and electives and educational activities. A long day’s work and a load of sweat have plenty to teach as well.
You know who was taught a lot at a very young age? 10 year olds working and dying in West Virginia coal mines. They knew plenty of things. Like how to have no hope for their lives, how not to see the daylight for days on end, and how to go hungry. Those were the good days.