When trying to mediate conflicts in other nations, countries face the moral dilemma of intervening without imposing their views on others. However, there are some global issues, such as child labor, that other nations must involve themselves in because it is morally the right thing to do. Nevertheless, it is important for these nations to still take into account the values and conditions of the society, so that they provide aid without impairing the civilians or imposing their own ideals. Today, there are about 186 million child laborers (Srivastava, 1). At least 12.6 million of them work in detrimental conditions or informal economies such as prostitution (Srivastava, 1). Although Western democracies, such as the United States, have been trying to end child labor, they have been taking the wrong approach when dealing with the issue. Western nations believe that because their democratic ideals are against child labor, it is their moral obligation to stop its practice in third-world countries. Because of this moral obligation, they often terminate relationships with companies that use child labor. However, through this process, children lose their jobs and are thus forced into deeper poverty. Instead of trying to end child labor by cutting ties with companies that practice it because their democratic ideals do not support child labor, Western nations should ameliorate the underlying issue of child labor—poverty. In order to do so, Western nations must take a more humanitarian approach by providing developing countries with the economic means to implement education systems in a manner that does not infringe on the nation’s sovereignty. Current reasoning by Western nations suggests terminating relations with companies that sup… … middle of paper … …intervening in the everyday lives of the children who will be affected. At its core, child labor is an issue of poverty, not democracy. Works Cited “Democratic Values — Liberty, Equality, Justice.” American Government Online Textbook. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. . Houwerzijl, Mijke, and Roland Pierik. “Western Policies on Child Labor Abroad.” Ethics & International Affairs 20.2 (2006): 193-278. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 May 2014. Satz, Debra. “Child Labor: A Normative Perspective.” The World Bank Economic Review 17.2, Child Labor and Development (2003): 297-309. JSTOR. Web. 01 May 2014. . Srivastava, Kalpana. “Child Labour Issues and Challenges.” Industrial Psychiatry Journal 20.1 (2012): 1. Print.
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