Stephen Chapman's recent editorial piece regarding proposed boycotts of toys made with child labor in 3rd world countries is way off the mark with regards to accuracy and grossly misrepresents history and politics to his readers. In this grossly misleading commentary he compares our 19th century problems with child labor to the problems in 3rd world countries like China. His assertion that our child labor problems were taken care of by market forces totally ignores the efforts and sacrifices of many progressives. It is equivalent to saying that the abolitionist movement had no bearing on the eventual end of slavery, that consumer pressures had nothing to do with the end of apartheid, or that demonstrations in the 60s had nothing to do with the end of overt discrimination and new opportunities for blacks in the USA. Much of what we now take for granted in labor, consumer, and environmental protections were the result of the efforts of dedicated union, consumer and environmental activists who were ALWAYS vilified by our "liberal" press.
Even if we were to accept Chapman's revisionist history at face value - a huge stretch of imagination and gaul at that - we are still comparing apples and oranges. Even BEFORE the sacrifices of progressives the beleaguered citizens were light years ahead of most 3rd world countries in terms of freedoms and basic human rights. If Chapman were referring to conditions in emergent democracies, such as those in eastern Europe, with constitutional protections for citizens, I would wholeheartedly agree with his call to support these economies. Increased trade there would raise living standards and actually create markets for our goods. As a libertarian Steven Chapman has no excuse whatsoever in not taking into account the effect of repressive governments (and US support for their actions) on the labor market. Supply and demand market forces work ONLY when citizens are empowered to make choices. Libertarians are among the most consistent opponents of our severely dysfunctional interventionist foreign policy and Chapman betrays libertarian principles by parroting Republican poppycock. It is no wonder that Republican owned media is so willing to give his version of libertarianism a public forum!
12/23/96