[happytoexplain]

I am giving the GP the benefit of the doubt and don't think they are engaging in child labor whataboutism, but I also think they should write in a way that does not invite the qualification of "I think his point is...".

>pointing out just one particular item isn't very helpful

It absolutely is. And pointing out more is even better!

[Retric]

> It absolutely is. And pointing out more is even better.

I don’t see how.

If I point out your PC, car, house, office, etc are all likely built in some small way from child labor you’re going to do what exactly?

There’s plenty of documentation for many egregious cases, but when you look at the full supply chain for anything it quickly starts to look like the global economy as a whole. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-o...

[TylerE]

And are the deplorable conditions suddenly a-ok the day they turn 18?

[Retric]

Child labor is somewhat orthogonal to deplorable conditions. Child actors can easily fit the definition.

There’s also an unfortunate cultural bias where people may view for example Amish children skipping school to take in a harvest as perfectly acceptable when kids in developing economies doing the same things are suddenly not.

[yellowapple]

> Child actors can easily fit the definition.

Yes, and they often work under deplorable conditions. Psychological/emotional abuse is still abuse (not to mention the forced dieting, the rampant molestation/rape, and other very physical abuses).

But that highlights what makes child labor more worthy of scrutiny. Adult actors face those same conditions, and it's unacceptable that they do, but at least they have the mental maturity to cope with them and the social/legal autonomy to do something about them. Child actors lack any of that; they end up scarred for life over a career they had little choice in pursuing.

[Retric]

> often work under deplorable conditions

Often isn’t always. Those abuses aren’t some inherent requirement for child acting to exist.

[TylerE]

It's a symptom of a larger disease. Focus on the disease, not the symptom.

[Retric]

You lost me, how do Child Actors fit into your analogy? Or do you mean curtail bias?

[TylerE]

Fever is a symptom. Viral pneumonia is a disease.

Child labor is a symptom. Unchecked hypercapitalism is a disease.