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Here Are The 50 Worst Legal Things That Should Be Illegal, As Shared In This Online Thread
Just because something is technically legal doesn’t automatically make it good, moral, or fair for consumers and regular folks alike. It might mean that the law simply hasn’t caught up to reality, that there are glaring flaws and oversights in the legal system, (or that sneaky lobbyists conduct clandestine operations to sway the system in the favor of their multi-billion dollar clients).
There are tons of small things that annoy us in our day-to-day lives. Like receiving unsolicited email subscriptions. Being unable to unsubscribe from spam without jumping through more hoops than a show dog. Being forced to pay a ‘convenience’ fee for, well, pretty much anything. As well as realizing that the person you helped vote into political office isn't fulfilling the promises they made. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of some truly unpleasant practices that are still prevalent in 2022.
User u/cucutz fired up a very interesting discussion on r/AskReddit after they asked the digital crowd to share their thoughts about completely legal things that should become illegal. We’ve collected the most interesting insights to share with you Pandas. Scroll down to read them all, and don’t forget to upvote the posts you agree with. Have the redditors missed something that you think is atrocious and needs to be banned? Be sure to share your opinions in the comments, Pandas.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Forcing women to give birth.
Cat Momma 2 years ago
A lot of religions and tribes treat women as breeding stocks and some even disguise it as honorable. Its not honorable or desired if it is forced. Bodily autonomy should be respected.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
Many state legislatures in the US treat women the same way.
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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago
It’s truly sad when some people in the United States value their constitutional right to bare arms over a woman’s right to her own bodily autonomy. Truly disturbing.
Helen Waight 2 years ago
My choice was either get a termination (my iud failed) or end my own life because I will NOT be pregnant. It’s one of my worst phobias. So a place that makes the first option illegal is basically telling me to go jump off a cliff. (And if anyone wants to try the ‘why don’t you get sterilised?’ thing? I’ve been told for decades that I’m just ‘too immature’ to make the decision to never have kids. I’m in my late 40s)
30_Helens_Agree 2 years ago
Yeah the anti-choice crowd never factors the fact that women are living, breathing, established human beings worthy of making our own decisions. They tend to take the whole woman out of the equation, essentially telling us we’re chattel and the life of a fetus is more important and worthy than our own.
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Seedy Vine 2 years ago (edited)
Forced birthers like to tout the use of family planning for contraception, but they ignore the fact that men often force themselves onto women and girls, and the only way to "plan" for that is to be on birth control, and if that fails, to have access to safe and legal abortion. Forced birthers should be legislating harder against violent men who assault us, not locking us and our doctors up.
Laura Gillette 2 years ago
Or to nearly die before giving them life-saving abortion care. And sometimes they do die.
Wendy Herman 2 years ago
It would be awesome if the GOP actually cared about kids *after* they're born. You know, by making sure those unwanted kids are actually fed, and not abused, and receive a decent education even if their parents don't have 2 sticks to rub together. What we see instead are kids whose Only hot meals come from the free lunch programs the alt-right seeks to Erase. We see a nation of yahoos who won't give up their "right" to the war toys that are killing thousands of kids each & every year. It's no coincidence that these same people gleefully support an unrepentent rapist. Yeah, I said it. If he were innocent of raping & battering a 13 yr old child, he'd Not be hiding the DNA that would prove his innocence. Logic tells me that, not TV brainwashing. The GOP's main motivations are nothing more than Power, Control & Greed. Trump's stooges are merely cowards supporting a bully in the hope that they'll benefit, too, from the misery of others. Hard to think of a less "Christian" mindset!
2 years ago (edited)
Why should the government tell us what to do with our bodies, anyways? Half of them don't know what it's like because their freaking MEN with nothing better to do than relive the glory days when men were all-that and we women were just the cleaners and cookers who stayed obedient. When will they realize it's the 21st century? We're educated too, you know, so we're not stupid and we know how to speak up.🙄 Also, I only think the government should get mad if the abortion is unnecessary, not when it's to save a woman's life. Or does the US government WANT all their women to die?
Tamra 2 years ago
Well, that's the thing...a woman only has an abortion *because* she feels it's necessary. No government should be able to tell a woman whether or not an abortion is right/necessary - that decision should lie with the woman, period.
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Amber.exe (She/They) 2 years ago
Ah yes where men decided that women should be forced to give birth I'm in one of the states where it was banned/restricted
Scarlett 2 years ago
Yeah, American government, what the hell? (I’m American, don’t come for me pls)
Andy Saputo 2 years ago
Some basics on American government: Abortion is not banned in the US. It was left to each state to decide. I live in a state that is completely legal. If the state you live in has banned it, then the public must vote in the people that will change that.
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Robert T 2 years ago (edited)
What do you want them to do? Keep their legs crossed and hold the baby in for the rest of their lives? I think that you might actually mean allowing women to have free access to abortions, and I totally agree, but that is not how this statement reads.
Thor Haugen 2 years ago
Nobody comes from a perfect family. Imagine what is going to be like for those unwanted children growing up. Even loving parents have flaws. I believe in the sanctity of human life, but think about what what we are doing. Ultimately, it's a matter of faith. God has got the unborn. And I think He has better plans for them than growing up in a horrible relationship.
Jimmy Londo 1 year ago
5% of pregnancies are due to rape. 95% are due to consensual sex. Nobody is forcing women or men to have sex. If a woman doesnt want to give birth, then don’t have sex. Simple as that.
Jimmy Londo 1 year ago
This is the dumbest thing to trend at #1. Less than 5% of pregnancies are due to rape. 95% of that is consensual sex. If a woman doesnt want to give birth, don’t have sex. Pregnancy is a natural result of sex, what else do they think gonna happen? On demand abortion getting 5-10+ abortions like you’re getting loyalty stamps for PP because you can’t control your sexual impulses.
Seadog 2 years ago
I take this to mean deliver vaginally. Completely absurd. Many doctors should be run out of business over this. If a woman can't deliver in a reasonable timeframe, say 2 or 3 hours, then C section should be done. Carrying it out longer is not healthy for her or the baby. Women should also be allowed to opt for C section as their chosen method.
Celtic Pirate Queen 2 years ago (edited)
Right? While I am all for preventative action, nothing is 100% safe. How f*cking DARE you to assume you have the right (MOSTLY RICH, FAT, OLD, WHITE MEN who are opposed to abortion only UNTIL their 30 years younger mistress gets pregnant) to tell me whether or not I SHOULD BE ALLOWED to end a pregnancy I don't want? You gonna give me child support?
Sardonyx_3 2 years ago
Weird how people prioritize the life of a living, breathing woman (or a victim of rape) over an unborn child that probably doesn't have a soul or mind yet.
Mrs.Pugh 2 years ago
Oh, if only birth control didn't fail! Oh, if only condoms didn't break! Oh, if only men didn't rape! Oh, if only men didn't lie about putting the condom on! Oh, if only grown adult men didn't prey on little girls! Oh, if only women didn't get questioned about wanting our tubes tied!
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30_Helens_Agree 2 years ago
Everything you said here is complete and total b******t. It IS about control. It’s about punishing women for having sex. You’re a sick piece of garbage if you think it’s okay to force a child who was raped to carry their rapist’s baby. You’re sick and twisted for believing any women should carry a baby for nine months to make YOU feel better. Anti-choice is anti-women.
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Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago (edited)
BUZZ! False equivalence. Paying child support does not affect your right to bodily autonomy. Try not to be a cretin in future, there's a champ.
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30_Helens_Agree 2 years ago
Jesus Christ. It’s always so f*****g black and white to men like you, isn’t it? Of course, you’re not in danger of losing your bodily autonomy and never will be. So it’s easy to sit on to your thrown of judgment and tell women how horrible they are for not living exactly as YOU want them to.
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#3
Increasing the volume on commercials by 20 goddam decibels.
One of the things mentioned in the r/AskReddit thread concerns receiving unsolicited emails. And it's a great example showing us how the lines between privacy and vulnerability to marketing have become blurred in recent years.
Look, we’ve probably all been there: you start getting emails from random people, clogging up your inbox with paragraphs about weird products, news that you never wanted to get, and offers that simply don’t interest you. The fact of the matter is that your email can end up on some ad or PR agency’s list without you having come into contact with them at all in the past. It happens far more often if you’re even a semi-public person and your contact info is visible somewhere on a company website or on social media.
#4
Child beauty pageants.
Crease Almighty 2 years ago
Gross and probably the reason of a lot of mental health issues as adults.
#5
Politicians making medical decisions. They really do make cr*ppy doctors.
InvincibleRodent 2 years ago
Remember when it was first suggested (by a politician ofc) that instead of terminating, an ectopic pregnancy should be re-implanted into the womb? Which is medically 100% impossible, but they insisted that it's possible, and this is still an existing myth in some circles? Yeah.
#6
Declawing cats. I’d rather have my cats scratch my face off then ever putting them through that much pain.
We’d all probably love it if we were expressly asked if we’d like to subscribe to email lists from a company before they start sending us their newsletters like a bolt from the blue. And sometimes, the ‘unsubscribe’ function (which might take up to several steps) isn’t enough to get them off your back. They keep contacting you. Over. And over. And over again. In short, unsolicited mass marketing is annoying, and unsolicited bulk emails are the devil.
In the United States, for example, it’s perfectly legal to send out unsolicited commercial emails. There are some restrictions, however. Meanwhile, anti-spam laws appear to be stricter in the United Kingdom, and breaches of regulations can lead to fines of up to 500k pounds (around 568k dollars).
#9
Not being able to unsubscribe to something using the same method you used to subscribe.
It all comes down to the need for stricter privacy and information-sharing laws. It feels like a huge invasion of privacy when someone you don’t know starts offering services you don’t need. We see enough ads on billboards and on the TV, thank you very much.
Don’t get us wrong, the people sending those marketing emails are just doing their jobs and we’re sure most of them are perfectly decent folks. But boundaries have to be drawn. When you get an email, you expect it to be important, informative, or entertaining. What you don’t want is to have your time and energy wasted by a poorly-disguised ad.
#10
I think paparazzi should be illegal to be honest.
Crease Almighty 2 years ago
Stop liking their pictures and they go away… but people want these pictures. Bit like factory farming and cheap clothes… if there wasn’t a demand then it would go away.
#12
Catching wild animals and selling them as pets. Hermit crabs, parrots, and many fish still fall in this category and are going extinct because of it.
#13
It should be illegal to blatantly lie to voters while running for political office. We call it fraud and jail people for lying in order to gain financially. Yet we call it normal and allow politicians to lie in order to gain votes for political offices, offices which not only benefit them financially but also give them enormous amounts of power to benefit and detriment others.
Then we wonder why political office seems so often to attract the most fraudulent, sociopathic, and dishonest among us. We basically have a neon sign over our political system saying, “If you enjoy committing fraud and are a pathological liar, please apply here… we will let you deceive as many of us as you possibly can for more money and power than you can dream of.”
Crease Almighty 2 years ago
If I lie in a job interview and get caught out, the company has the right to fire me… should be the same in politics. Don’t do it!
#14
Overselling a plane and putting people who BOUGHT tickets on stand by.
#15
Tax avoidance by the rich and by corporations.
Amazon avoided £150m in corporation tax in the UK one year simply because their sales are booked in Luxembourg.
#16
American anti-abortion organisations protesting outside my country’s clinics and hospitals. Go away you f*****g cretins. Your views aren’t welcome.
#17
People marrying minors.
Carol Emory 2 years ago
If children under 18 are too young to venture into contracts, too young to smoke, too young to drink and too young to vote, then they are too young to marry.
#19
Fireworks, so many injuries every year and basically selling explosives to morons.
#20
Tipping! Restaurants and other businesses shouldn’t be able to get away with holding their customers “socially hostage”. People shouldn’t be forced to provide the salaries of employees they did not hire, simply to avoid looking like an a-hole. The practice is criminal.
BrownTabby 2 years ago
Some American corporations - and it’s ALWAYS the greediest ones - are trying to import it into New Zealand. Luckily everyone hates it so it hasn’t taken hold.
#21
Tax exemptions for religious institutions. How is that not a violation of separation of church and state.
#23
For profit prisons.
#24
Corporations owning single family homes
Also, sale of my data. I should not have to opt out for a company not to sell my data I should have to opt in
#25
Contracts signed by parents on behalf of their child still be enforceable once the child comes of age.
Taylor Swift and Lilly Allen are the big famous examples of this, but it happens to loads more who don't get big enough to get the media attention.
They did not sign the contract. Forcing an adult to live by the rules in the contract they did not agree should be classed as a form of slavery.
featherytoad 2 years ago
Also, making it so hard to get out of conservatorships. I saw a Netflix episode on this (before the Spears one happened) and it was heart breaking and so frustrating. These people were so obviously of sound mind.
#26
Family vloggers, and any other kind of of making kids famous on social media. They have no privacy, no protections in place, nothing.
Some Place Under Neith podcast just did a fantastic series about this and I really recommend giving it a listen.
#27
This used to be illegal but advertising for prescription only drugs.
#28
Insider trading by elected officials. Absolutely blatant abuse of power and funneling of wealth.
#31
Government bailing out banks and airlines with taxpayer money
The Idaho Potato 2 years ago
Depends on the airline. Spent a bunch of money doing stock buybacks? Yeah.....no thanks. Had decent financial practises and got screwed over? Doesn't sound that bad. Banks almost always fall into the first category.
#32
Gerrymandering. How the hell is it just for a politician to pick their constituents? It results in more extreme candidates and disenfranchised voters who got packed or cracked.
#33
Congress owning stocks in any industry or company they regulate, take money from, etc. Corporations donating to political campaigns. Advertising prescription drugs to customers (the US is one of the only places this is still legal).
Nitka Tsar 2 years ago
Illegal in Germany (and probably the EU/ Europe, but I can‘t say that for sure)
#35
Paternity fraud and baby trapping. They're sex crimes and should be treated like any other sex crime.
Donkey boi 2 years ago
If only there was a way for a guy to have sex without the risk of impregnating a woman not on birth control.... What's that you say?... There is? 'And it's also great at preventing sexually transmitted diseases!' Sound great! What is this miracle thing called?
#36
When I go to a doctor and they suggest a test or procedure (an X ray for example), I should know how much I will be obligated to pay. I declined a procedure today the doctor suggested because I had no clue what it would cost ( I have insurance). It’s like going to a restaurant where the menu has no prices, except the “food” helps keep me “not sick or dead.”
#37
People serving more than 3 terms in the Senate or 5 terms in the House.
#38
Political campaign donations. All Political campaigns should be free to run. No one gets to advertise. Network TV Aires debates in prime time paid for by the taxpayer.
harpling 2 years ago
And just think how much nicer campaign season would be for the public if politicians could only afford a few campaign ads for a month or two rather than bombarding us with billboards, tv and youtube ads, website pop-ups, radio ads, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum for the entire year before an election. Not to mention that politicians might actually focus on doing their jobs once elected, rather than getting into office and immediately turning around to campaign for re-election.
#41
Predatory Lending. This includes aggressive service charges/fees/etc.
beeker 2 years ago
Looking at mortgage companies that tried to get me into an adjustable rate-mortgage in 2010, right after the 2008 financial collapse, in which adjustable-rate mortgages played a big part in. I walked out of a few offices when they even mentioned it. Didn't even say anything, I just got up and walked out.
#43
Payday loan companies.
Tobias Reaper 2 years ago
this one definitely they are all predatory there have been tougher regulations brought in that capped the amount of interest and charges they could charge and a lot of companies went under because of it which shows that's how they made their profit if its a few days before payday and you need the help they can be not so bad bud they make it easy to get loans i had trouble before it was my own fault for taking them out in the first place but they made it so easy and at one point i had 5 loans with one company they should be illegal they are basically legal loan sharks.
#44
Sending catalogs to my house without my permission. The quantity of paper that is wasted is unreal. We call to have them cancelled but they keep coming. I have to pay to have my trash collected where I live, so basically those companies are forcing me to pay to throw away their garbage that they created unnecessarily and there is nothing i can do.
#45
Those stupid f*****g mini game ads for mobile games.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
yeah either just let me play 3 levels and decide if I want to buy it, or make it chargeable upfront. I do not want to ever see adverts. Even worse: I pay for an app and it STILL shows me ads???
#46
Factory farms
I'm.Just.A.Girl 2 years ago
Disgusting, awful, and greedy. It makes me so sad and angry. Humankind are the worst predators on the planet. What can I do to refuse to support factory farming? Are there certain things I shouldn't buy so that I am not promoting this sick practice?
#47
Big Pharma advertisements for medications.
Medicine should be something you research yourself or consult your doctor about.
It shouldn't be pushed by a goddamn commercial with puppies and butterflies while a family is laughing and playing in the sunlight, only for someone to rattle off 30 side-effects in a low voice, followed by someone saying "Ask your doctor about this."
#48
Infant circumcision.
#50
Subscription to an emailing list without a previous email confirmation.
What do you think ?
Gemma jones 2 years ago
televangelists, they are not men or women of god they are profiteers, i am not religious at all but i have read the bible and no where does it say you have to pay to get in to heaven
Buren 2 years ago
Can I add dumb-tedious-clueless-stupid-idiotic activists? People who glue or cement their hands to the road, blocking traffics, ruin arts, endanger others. Are they ill-informed, following trends, have nothing better to do? At some point there should be serious consequences for this kind of stupidity
Rens 2 years ago
Artificial sweeteners in EVERYTHING including non-diet items. Give me the sugar, I don't mind paying for it, but stop using artificial sweeteners, they don't solve the obesity crisis and they make people with chronic illnesses, like myself, very very sick. At least give us a choice!
Joshua Moon 2 years ago
I had to stop drinking several of my favorite NON diet sodas because they put in artificial sweeteners.
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Markus It/He/E 2 years ago
People demonising others. I'm talking the extremists of any kind of group i.e. religuous people, vegans. If you don't obey their rules, you're not only beneath them, but actively disgusting. Extreme vegans I have to say are probably the worst for this because they are so damn smug about how "it's better for the environment". Actually, no. It's unsustainable for large amounts of the population, and a complete switch to a vegan diet overnight would ruin food security. Not to mention the majority of cute farm animals they're "saving" would go extinct without severe human intervention. And the worst kind of religious extremists (not including. like. terrorists) are those who use their religion as an excuse for bigotry or their own personal views. I'm not saying religion or veganism are bad. Just people need to stop demonising others because they don't agree. That's not going to convince them to agree with you, all it does is make you look like a pompous twat
Markus It/He/E 2 years ago
This does of course go both ways, people in these groups should not be demonised for their choices either
Load More Replies... 2 years ago
I know this isn't a "law" or anything but I'm talking about American school dress codes. I don't think every school does this but mine does: Females can't show their shoulders because it's "distracting" but they can have half their boobs sticking out for the public to see. Just saying, why???
Ivy la Sangrienta 2 years ago
Most of these already are illegal in my country. The US suuuucks.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago (edited)
Well this entire list was disturbing…I’m surprised that MLMs weren’t included unless I missed them.
Will Cable 2 years ago
Phone companies filling their stuff with bloatware. You don't go and grab a shopping cart and have it filled aready with all the own brand of the store so why should phones be filled with their c**p
Ronnie Beaton 2 years ago
Cinemas where you have to sit through 15 to 20 minutes of ads and trailers before the movie starts. Also people who show up late and make a big deal out of finding seats.
Sonja 2 years ago
Trying to tie people to personality profiles like DISG etc. No it is not possible to predict people's behaviour by letting them take a 25 minutes test or watching their behaviour for a while. All it does is creating a self fulfilling prophecy by cementing a prejudice and focusing attention to behaviour that confirms the prejudices about them. Please stop this nonsense. There are countless trials that have shown there is no validity in the popular personality tests. It's pseudoscience and it hurts you and the people you interact with because it limits the way you look at them and interact with them.
Gemma jones 2 years ago
televangelists, they are not men or women of god they are profiteers, i am not religious at all but i have read the bible and no where does it say you have to pay to get in to heaven
Buren 2 years ago
Can I add dumb-tedious-clueless-stupid-idiotic activists? People who glue or cement their hands to the road, blocking traffics, ruin arts, endanger others. Are they ill-informed, following trends, have nothing better to do? At some point there should be serious consequences for this kind of stupidity
Rens 2 years ago
Artificial sweeteners in EVERYTHING including non-diet items. Give me the sugar, I don't mind paying for it, but stop using artificial sweeteners, they don't solve the obesity crisis and they make people with chronic illnesses, like myself, very very sick. At least give us a choice!
Joshua Moon 2 years ago
I had to stop drinking several of my favorite NON diet sodas because they put in artificial sweeteners.
Load More Replies... Markus It/He/E 2 years ago
People demonising others. I'm talking the extremists of any kind of group i.e. religuous people, vegans. If you don't obey their rules, you're not only beneath them, but actively disgusting. Extreme vegans I have to say are probably the worst for this because they are so damn smug about how "it's better for the environment". Actually, no. It's unsustainable for large amounts of the population, and a complete switch to a vegan diet overnight would ruin food security. Not to mention the majority of cute farm animals they're "saving" would go extinct without severe human intervention. And the worst kind of religious extremists (not including. like. terrorists) are those who use their religion as an excuse for bigotry or their own personal views. I'm not saying religion or veganism are bad. Just people need to stop demonising others because they don't agree. That's not going to convince them to agree with you, all it does is make you look like a pompous twat
Markus It/He/E 2 years ago
This does of course go both ways, people in these groups should not be demonised for their choices either
Load More Replies... 2 years ago
I know this isn't a "law" or anything but I'm talking about American school dress codes. I don't think every school does this but mine does: Females can't show their shoulders because it's "distracting" but they can have half their boobs sticking out for the public to see. Just saying, why???
Ivy la Sangrienta 2 years ago
Most of these already are illegal in my country. The US suuuucks.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago (edited)
Well this entire list was disturbing…I’m surprised that MLMs weren’t included unless I missed them.
Will Cable 2 years ago
Phone companies filling their stuff with bloatware. You don't go and grab a shopping cart and have it filled aready with all the own brand of the store so why should phones be filled with their c**p
Ronnie Beaton 2 years ago
Cinemas where you have to sit through 15 to 20 minutes of ads and trailers before the movie starts. Also people who show up late and make a big deal out of finding seats.
Sonja 2 years ago
Trying to tie people to personality profiles like DISG etc. No it is not possible to predict people's behaviour by letting them take a 25 minutes test or watching their behaviour for a while. All it does is creating a self fulfilling prophecy by cementing a prejudice and focusing attention to behaviour that confirms the prejudices about them. Please stop this nonsense. There are countless trials that have shown there is no validity in the popular personality tests. It's pseudoscience and it hurts you and the people you interact with because it limits the way you look at them and interact with them.
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