Posted on 04/01/2010 5:51:55 PM PDT by Big Bureaucracy
If Tom Sawyer was painting the fence today he would have broken many regulations. He was 11-12 years old – he did not have work permit for child labor – nor did the kids he exploited.
Whitewash – paint made from calcium hydroxide (lime) and chalk – requires reaction with dangerous (according to EPA) carbon dioxide in order to cure. It may take days of carbonation, depending on climate, for the paint to harden.
That carbon dioxide pollutant is ruining the world according to the new EPA regulations:
Atmospheric deposition may affect materials principally by promoting and accelerating the corrosion of metals, by degrading paints, and by deteriorating building materials such as concrete and limestone.
It also helps the whitewash to harden but that was in the old days.
There is also the question about who produced the whitewash. Was it Sawyer’s Aunt Polly – and did her whitewash meet the standards of EPA. If the whitewash is made in China you may want to go check it for lead. You really cannot let Sawyer and his underage workers to go around breathing lead mixed with Chinese whitewash – it may be a reason for future developmental disabilities.
The greedy Sawyer capitalized on the feelings of the workers to trick them into labor without even paying them the minimum wage. According to the difference in his wealth before and after Sawyer hired just 14 people to avoid the new health care regulations for small businesses and did not pay Social Security for single one of the poor children.
It is all complicated today.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigbureaucracy.com ...
The calcium carbonate (chalk or lime) he used in conjunction with the HAZMAT hydroxide could have released previously sequestered carbon. We can assume perhaps this is low-voc whitewash but on the Missouri riverfront any number of middlemen could have introduced some forbidden solvent and carried these dastardly compounds into the atmosphere. I don’t recall a discussion of protective gear. OSHA and EPA are now equally concerned.....
The IRS is investigating unreported barter income as we speak.
There is some question as to the legitimacy of hiring practices which has come to the attention of the EEOC who which already has a large file on the young racist Sawyer.
If I were him I would catch the next barge out of town.
Those are really worthy additions to the story. Thank you!
I agree - he tried to get Jim in trouble first :)
Its been 30 or 40 years since I read those books but how I long for those simpler times. I realize there was a lot of dirty discrimination but it was more honest than what we’re doing now.
We have created an economy-choking bureaucracy/sociocracy at the exact time we need to let American creativity flow.
Young Sawyer escaped federal indictment as I recall but history rewritten for today’s textbooks would not be as kind.
Enjoyed your premise. Take care.
Thank you, I think Sawyer had the spirit of entrepreneur.
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