3 ms·

They did not remove that option. They provided schools, as an option, without forcing people, then made them free (mostly because the church was out competing t

They did not remove that option. They provided schools, as an option, without forcing people, then made them free (mostly because the church was out competing them, but ... it's not like that still matters). Kids were widely expected to work on the fields during school holidays as recently as the 70s. For that matter, ever notice how if you wanted your kid to work the fields, that school holidays sure have mighty convenient dates ? That's not a coincidence ... So they very much did not remove the option of having kids work in the coal mines and on the fields. Not for a LOOOONG time after the 1850s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_laws_in_the_United... You could apply that here: the government could get into the payday lending business and enforce a maximum interest rate that way.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>mostly because the church was out competing them, but ... it's not like that still matters I disagree that it does not still matter. For the past few centuries or so (depending on what country you're looking at) the church had the monopoly on morals and the state had the monopoly on violence. It seems to have in the last 100yr (in the US at least) the government, and to a lesser extent corporations, have replaced the church as the source of morals for a great deal of the population in Europe and North America. Public education is a great net good but we need to be careful with it because the line between education and indoctrination is a fine one. I think that the replacement of church provided education with public education poses a slow long term risk to secular societies. You do not want the entity that has a monopoly on violence also controlling education and with it morality. That's how you get the crusades, the USSR, etc. I'm not sure what the solution is. I don't think increased religion is it. FWIW I am not religious.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>mostly because the church was out competing them, but ... it's not like that still matters I disagree that it does not still matter. For the past few centuries or so (depending on what country you're looking at) the church had the monopoly on morals and the state had the monopoly on violence. It seems to have in the last 100yr (in the US at least) the government, and to a lesser extent corporations, have replaced the church as the source of morals for a great deal of the population in Europe and North America. Public education is a great net good but we need to be careful with it because the line between education and indoctrination is a fine one. I think that the replacement of church provided education with public education poses a slow long term risk to secular societies. You do not want the entity that has a monopoly on violence also controlling education and with it morality. That's how you get the crusades, the USSR, etc. I'm not sure what the solution is. I don't think increased religion is it. FWIW I am not religious.