[sokoloff]

I would judge that someone falsely claiming that 14 year olds are being killed in sawmills as a result of policy changes they dislike is the one deliberately trying to derail the conversation more than someone who correctly claims "no, that is false".

[carb]

The burden of proof is certainly on the person claiming there's an increase in child labor death. However just because they didn't provide proof doesn't make the claim "false".

The increase in child labor-related deaths is happening and will continue as child labor laws are rolled back in states across the US.

[troad]

> The increase in child labor-related deaths is happening and will continue as child labor laws are rolled back in states across the US.

You’re accepting the claim because you already believe it to be true, but both you and the original person making the claim have no evidence for this. This is a very dangerous style of political argument. “Well, there are no facts here, but this claim reinforces my already existing beliefs, so the vibes check out!”

We want policy around workplace safety to be evidence based, not vibes and feels based, because the former will save lives and the latter will not.

[carb]

I'm curious why you think these laws were enacted in the first place? Do you think there was not evidence back then which convinced a majority of people to want that big change?

[troad]

They were based on mountains of data, collected methodically over a number of years to make an ironclad case for reform. That’s good law making! I support this!

However, data from 1910 is accurate for 1910, not for 2024. If children are dying en masse in workplaces today, it ought not be difficult to collate the data required to tighten the laws further. And yet, all I’ve seen is assertions, vibes, and vague conspiracy theories.

Policy making is a balancing act; we calibrate laws for the circumstances as they develop. The only way to do this intelligently, or even competently, is on the basis of evidence.

[sokoloff]

Fair. I am willing to wait for evidence that a 14 year old was killed in a sawmill as a result of these policy changes before cementing my conclusion that it was a false claim.