A proposed Florida law seeking to roll back restrictions on teenage labor was drafted by a far-right conservative think tank pushing similar efforts nationwide
A new measure in Florida aims to allow 16-year-old kids to drop out of school and work full time.
An amendment to HB 49 — offered by the bill’s author, state Rep. Linda Chaney ® — would eliminate laws that prevent 16 and 17-year-olds from working more than 30 hours a week, impose 8-hour workday restrictions, and guarantee mandated breaks every four hours.
The bill, introduced in September and now under review by the Florida House Regulatory Reform and Economic Development Subcommittee, would relegate 16 and 17-year-olds to virtually the same status as an employee who is over 18 years of age — provided that the teens have either formally dropped out of school or are taking classes online or at home. Furthermore, the bill would also severely curtail local municipalities’ ability to implement their own provisions to combat the workplace exploitation of minors.
They clearly want slavery but can’t get away with outright slavery rn, but once they can they will have their slaves again.
They certainly can get away with slavery, ever heard of the prison system?
I hate when people like you get pendantic about slavery, sure of course I’ve heard of the prison system, like who tf hasn’t? My asshole father is only a retired Riker’s island guard.
So the vast majority of the prison system doesn’t practice slavery/forced labor/indentured servitude. Also most labor in the prison system is voluntary, because sitting around a prison all day sucks and is boring as hell, and picking up litter is a chance to be outside of the walls while doing the community a service, again I know about this too firsthand from some time spent in jail in my younger and dumber youth.
Sure i don’t agree with every law on the books, especially every law that will land you in prison, especially stuff like marijuana laws, however with that said, also sure, most people in the prison system should be in a robust well regulated mental healthcare system instead, also sure a sizable portion of the prison system comes from poverty related crimes that could be better addressed with stronger safety nets and rehabilitation, but there are legit criminals in there too, people that prey on other people in one way or the other, and those people obviously deserve to be in prison or something prison adjacent that can help improve them or something.
So with that said the difference is there’s prison and there’s slavery, you can get out of prison through legal means, you cannot get out of slavery. Your life and physical well-being is in danger more in slavery than prison, there are no regulations, oversight, or watchdogs for slavery, yet ine the prison system when things aren’t being hindered by conservative shitheads only interested in vengeance upon the “sinners” the system has these safeguards.
Overall there’s a huge difference between being beaten, raped, and murdered for the various reasons that that will happen to slaves, as opposed to the same happening because the guard(s) are criminals, the prison leadership is abusive, neglectful, and/or corrupt, or that the criminal justice system is broken, and that difference is slavery is criminal, yet our criminal justice system is simply rife with systemic failures and human failures, we can fix the prison system, we have no power over criminals who enslave people, outside of imprisoning them after due process.