The Economy

They left out the part. ... where those 16 and 17 year olds can only work a job serving alcohol with written permission from their parent or guardian.

You are leaving out the part. ... where teens can't work past 9 p.m. according to the law's provisions.

 

Just as every lobbying organization has an interest. For example, an environmental lobbying group that you might feel more simpatico with.

Their interests may or may not align with those "schoolchildren." One could argue that a 16 or a 17-year-old should be free to voluntarily exchange his or her labor in exchange for compensation and by that age they are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves if it is beneficial to them. Just as a restaurant can voluntarily make the decision about whether the productivity that teenager offers is beneficial to their business at the wage they need to pay to attract the teenager.

If the idea is that lawmaking in this country shouldn't be a game of special interests buying legislation in what is essentially a corrupt game, the answer is simple: Take away the power of those legislators to pick economic winners and losers. The only reason lobbyists exist is that legislators who can be bought now corruptly direct economic activity in one way or another to the tune of trillions of dollars.

 

And?

In my opinion, there is nothing immoral or wrong about a teenager choosing to get a job. They are perfectly capable of making that decision for themselves.

An employer is perfectly capable of assessing the typical skills most teenagers offer and deciding for themselves if hiring a teenager brings enough productivity to their business to justify the pay.

Other than scratching your own itch to dictate how everyone else has to live, you are hurting a 16-year-old from, say, an impoverished background by dictating that they can't work. A job doesn't just give them money (what a novel idea. ... earn some money). ... it gives someone experience and can help them develop skills that can someday potentially lead to a better job.

These discussions are infuriating to me, because a teenager who freely chooses to get a job shouldn't have to justify it me or you (their reasons just have to be their own), and the employer shouldn't have to either.