Quote of the Day

The disorienting fact about the 21st century is that, even as the calendar moves forward, actual social and political reality is in a state of regression. Evils that were once thought long-vanquished are returning with a vengeance. Instead of Francis Fukuyama’s promised “end of history” leading to an expanding global system of liberal democracy, we’re living through a revival of authoritarianism and Great Power imperial conflict. Thanks to anti-vaxxers, the United States and other countries are experiencing a return of measles, mumps, whooping cough and chicken pox. The health achievements of the past century are threatened by a malfunctioning global health system that is becoming more vulnerable to pandemics. The rollback of social democracy that began with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher has led to levels of income inequality surpassing the era of robber barons like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie more than a century ago.

Child labor now has to be added to this list of resurgent horrors.

“Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country,” writes journalist Hannah Dreier, in an in-depth investigation published by The New York Times last month.

– Jeet Heer
Excerpted from “The Horrifying and
Shameful Return of Child Labor”
The Nation
March 10, 2023

Related Off-site Link:
“Alone and Exploited”: NYT Exposé Shows Migrant Kids in U.S. Forced Into Brutal Jobs for Major Brands – Democracy Now! (February 28, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Demanding Justice and Embodying Compassion for Separated Families
• A Prayer for Asylum Seekers Being Tear-Gassed at the Border
• Jeremy Scahill on the Historical Context of the Trump Administration’s “Pathologically Sick” Anti-Immigrant Agenda
• “What We’re Seeing Here Is a Tipping Point”