Child labour. (360 repost)

I dont think the issue of child labour can be isolated from other issues.. for any circumstance to come about there are usually a group of factors. I also believe that we cant solve something if we dont get to the root of it, topical patchwork solutions dont usually work.. so the question should be.. Why do we  have child labour? Looking at reality the way I perceive it, I came up with these reasons.--

1. In a consumer society(like we have today) we look at how we can get the best deal for the stuff we buy, which means the manufacturer will look for ways in which he can make the product cheaply so that they still get their profit margin. Notice everything we do in our lives is about profit.  Look at the questions we ask when we buy a product-- is it durable? is it affordable? can I get a bargain? Is the same thing available on sale? Where can I live so that I can save money for (put some need/want/consumer item here).  So child labour is profitable, cause children can be exploited. They usually have no voice, and if they do have a voice, its usually noise, no one will listen or take them seriously.

2. With the cities coming up like mushrooms, people who live the "Hard way"(agriculture/tribal way of living) are being pushed out of their habitats and forced to survive in an environment that is alien to them. They do not have the skills required to live a citylife and there is always a learning curve for anything new.. For some they dont have anything to start out with and it becomes difficult. Try to imagine a city dweller going back to the village, to grow crops and live a life where getting up at 5 am is imperative, no matter what the weather is and how your mood is.

3. Attitudes to life..at the most we all do is, talk about it, discuss it, feel good that we at least discussed it, Then set a committee and set another committee to overlook the previous one on the same issue, and pay more taxes or maybe extort money in the form of donations so that we can pay these committees..We expect the government to do the work cause we pay taxes to pay for them to take care of our needs, ok, fine, that is a good reason, but having an ethical government is an oxymoron. In my lifetime I havent seen any government that is honest or ethical in their dealings.  I think that has to do with the fact that we as individuals do not have the strength or the courage to be ethical in most situations.. we like to take the easy way out...We as a species do not value life. I dont mean life as in staying alive, but life as in the way we live it.

4. Poverty is another reason.. but if you look at the reasons for poverty, its usually the greed and hunger for power in the rest of the world and the inability/apathy that the rest of us(including me) have when it comes to dealing with poverty.. Each part of the world has a different definition for poverty, which you will notice when you read the statistics of how many dollars each nationality is earning.

5. The systems of economy, governance, laws etc that we have in place are flawed. Agreed, no system is perfect, but if we aimed and worked towards perfection, we might hit a high mark and improve things around us. We dont have to be perfect, just need to aim high. Maybe I am just another Naive Idealist.

What can I do about it? not much but I can do little things...Educate my kids, so that they can in the future avoid using child labour or work in the education of the rest of the world to change attitudes. I think if we take care of our own house, family, community then it will spread around. After all, we cant preach what we dont practise, cause then it will never have the conviction to affect change.

In conclusion,to me child labour,like every other problem that is there in this world- is related to the way we think, the way each one of us lives and the way we behave in our everyday life. I am sorry about being cynical.. At least the people whose opinions I read are far better than me, they see some hope. I dont see any hope unless the entire world changes the way we think, see, do and live our everyday lives. That could never happen or maybe it wont happen in my lifetime.