Children are always the first victims of inequity

There are so many things about child labor that show the oligarch’s contempt for working people but nothing so damning as the reckless disregard for children’s health & safety. This young boy works in an aluminum cooking pot factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We aren’t told who owns & operates the factory or where the pots are sold. It may damn well be expensive department stores like Macy’s or Marks & Spencer or even dumps like Walmart. The extreme toxicity of aluminum to human beings has been known for nearly 100 years. Aluminum dust causes brain & other body dysfunctions (including Alzheimer’s) & is an eye & respiratory tract irritant. The recklessness of subjecting children to such health hazards, which will make their lives hellish & brief, cannot be too harshly denounced or too strongly opposed. (Photo by Munir uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse)