this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2025
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[–] Idreamofcheesy@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (6 children)

I didn't think child labor still existed in China, just harsh labor conditions and low pay.

China's government's strict control of the media did, however, lead to me not questioning the social credit score thing.

[–] coolusername@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago

labor conditions actually aren't very bad at all. equivalent to first world countries. pay is relative

[–] Sgt_choke_n_stroke@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean america has wage slavery. I just think the detail are just different

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

USA have literal slavery, and it's even straight up called slavery in 13 amendment to constitution. Which also makes US afaik the only country that did enshrined slavery in constitution. Land of the free my ass.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Pretty naive to think that child labor dosen't exists in China tbh. Maybe not at the scale of child factory workers that some western media like to depict, but at a smaller scale, in farming, family owned business and small isolated factories.

[–] DarkSpectrum@lemmy.world 0 points 23 hours ago

As a parent, I would prefer this to modern western environments for children that include TVs, video games, phones and no idea what I do for a profession.

[–] histic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 day ago

In farming and small business’s it’s very common to see kids working in the us

[–] coolusername@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

So is the US, and we still have farms, small businesses, and small factories

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Missing the "child labor" reference on your comment makes it very funny.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, the US has that too. My point is that a nation being rich really doesn't prevent having those businesses or using them for child labor at all.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I got it, but it's sounds like the US have small (in size) businesses and factories, not that small business and factories use child labor.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Both are true. What's your point?

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 1 day ago

So is the US, and we still have farms, small businesses, and small factories

I think it should be "and we still have child labor in farms, small businesses..."

Without the "child labor in" the comment sounds funny to me.

[–] Phunter@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

According to a couple news stories I've seen pop up from time to time, we have child labor in the US too. It's not legal and the children are usually the children of illegal immigrants. Maybe it's sort of the same deal over there i.e. desperate people doing desperate things despite the norm.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 1 day ago

Yes, this is not something exclusive of China, or the US, basically everywhere, except maybe some countries in Europe, still have some kind of child labor in a lesser or greater degree. I don't think China is the worst place on that respect, but blinding believing to someone who lives in a big metropolitan Chinese city that child labor dosen't exists is pretty dumb.

[–] ubergeek@lemmy.today 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

we have child labor in the US too. It’s not legal

A lot of child labor in the US, is in fact, very legal.

From the age of 10-15, working papers can be issued allowing children to deliver newspaper, hawk products on corners, and do limited farm work.

From 15-17, working papers can be issues allowing children to pretty much do any job, with some limitations on hours, and tooling they can use (ie, no automatic sharp tools, like slicers).

Now, these are for my state. Some states are far more exploitative, such as Georgia, where kids as young as 13 can work a fast food joint.

[–] Phunter@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago

Now that you mention it, I was a soccer ref when I was 15. You're right, it probably varies by state. I guess "child labor" is a pretty broad term that could include delivering newspapers and processing chicken on a factory floor.

[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

harsh labor conditions and low pay

As opposed to how it is in the US...?

[–] snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're both bad governments just in their own special ways

[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago

US media loves to go on about the horrible working conditions in China, claiming 11-hour days and all kinds of other sweatshop working conditions because nothing sells like a good tragedy, but nobody talks about the working conditions at home and talking amongst ourselves is often made difficult, either by cultural or business practices. It's illegal to punish employees for talking about how much they make with each other, but that doesn't stop businesses from doing it anyway, because people here simply don't know their rights as a worker and companies love to take advantage of it. So we think we have a clear grasp of how the Chinese live while still believing that people here work 40-hour weeks and somewhere in the cultural zeitgeist is still the belief that people can afford a house with a white picket fence, a dog/cat, and 2.5 kids on one person's salary.

[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

Same.

Not hard to believe when there's camps for uyghurs.

Happy to be wrong.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Purchasing power is rising dramatically, labor conditions as well.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

996 sounds like amazing labour conditions

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Literally allowed in practice

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No actually, you're just a racist making assumptions.

[–] TheBeege@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

Not necessarily. You don't know why they're making that claim.

I live in Korea, where the letter of the labor laws are quite strong. However, they're not enforced. Workers don't sue companies because they're either afraid to rock the boat due to cultural norms or afraid they will develop a reputation and become unhirable.

Korea and China are very distinct cultures, but there are key facets that are common between them. Confucian (or at least neo-Confucian in Korea) values prioritize maintaining the peace and deferring to authority. This is one of several factors that causes Koreans to endure intense working hours, and I'm more willing to believe Chinese folks overwork a lot due to the few shared values.

[–] Draces@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're also making assumptions though. And like pointed out elsewhere, mentioning Tiananmen Square still gets silenced so we're kinda forced to assume one way or another and I generally don't believe the state that is doing the silencing. That's not racist and it's messed up to jump to that accusation so quickly

[–] coolusername@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)
[–] Draces@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There's a concerning amount of gaslighting going on in this thread. There absolutely was and is silencing going on around Tiananmen Square: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre#Contemporary_issues

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 0 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

There’s a concerning amount of gaslighting, so here’s a NATOpedia link.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago

Believe it or not, present in the US and other Western Countries as well. Working hours for Chinese citizens are on par with developed countries while doing far more industrial production. Propaganda generally works by taking a kernal of truth and exaggerating its scope or minimizing it, not normally by outright lying.