As new technologies and flaws emerge, public concerns such as food safety (e.g., the conditions exposed by Upton Sinclair Jungle), environmental protection (against chemicals such as PFAS), and even morality (such as in the US during the Prohibition era) can lead to new regulations and laws. Often at the time these things seem like a completely normal part of life until people start to realize how harmful they can be.
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images.
(Of course, as with insurance, these laws are also sometimes overturned!)
Recently, user tiredassbaker posed the question on Reddit: “What will ever be illegal when we finally realize how bad we are? Here are 27 of the most interesting things that are part of our daily lives right now that people think will one day be outlawed:
1. “Children using social networks”.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
– Commendable-Sea-8100
“Social media would be good for kids if it weren’t for the algorithms that dictate what they see. For example, 15 years ago, Facebook, which mostly showed posts from people you had as friends in chronological order, was a great way to keep in touch with everyone.” Facebook now, where you’re lucky to see one post from people on your friends list, instead it’s paid content and AI paid propaganda. you, at best, it is unhealthy for you.’
– Emu1981
2. “A lot of AI will eventually become illegal or heavily regulated, but probably not in our lifetime. You will suffer the consequences of unregulated AI with deep fakes and fake videos for a long time until there is a political movement to quell it.”
The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images.
– WhySoConspirious.
Related: Everyone’s Acting Like an A-hole Lately, So Here Are 50 Photos of People Who Are Totally Furious
3. “Corporate Campaign Contributions.”
UCG/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
-aredd007
“The crazy part is that corporations are usually owned by individuals who can already contribute to their interests.
-Swimming fee-6087
“Corporate campaign contributions are just ‘corruption’ with added paperwork!”
-No_Concept_6855
4. “Free internships disguised as ‘opportunities.’
Marco VDM/Getty Images
– it’s wrong
5. “Why is it legal for investment firms to buy single-family homes? The price of one of the most essential commodities, housing, is rising.”
Tim Boyle/Getty Images
– paradocs
“There should be a high tax on all property not used by the owner as a normal residence, excluding some businesses (of a limited number and size).
– exoriparin
6. “Tanning machines. It’s basically a cancer treatment device that also bakes the outer layer of skin.”
Donald Miralle/Getty Images
-supervillaindsgnr
Tanning beds have been illegal in Australia since 2015.
—TheDeterminedBadger
7. “Drug commercials on TV. People will say, ‘Yeah, that sounds like me.’ Then they want to take drugs they don’t really need.
-SpartanKilo
“We’ve known this for a long time, but corporate lobbying changed the law back in the 1980s.
– the day before yesterday
8. “Politics of Stock Trading”.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
– Phokelot
“I remember looking at my partner one day like, ‘Wait, if you’re involved in any kind of legislation that could affect stocks, how can you be allowed to trade stocks? Their answer was yes.’
-huge-golden-ak47
9. “Linking Health Insurance to Employment, Where Medical Debt Is the Largest Source of Bankruptcy in the US.”
LordHenriVoton/Getty Images
-sg16k
“Medical debt shouldn’t be a thing either.”
-iamthe0ther0ne
Related: 42 Horribly Selfish, Entitled, and Just Plain Rude People Who Prove We’re in an Epidemic of Selfishness
10. “Children’s beauty contests”.
Lisa Wiltse/Corbis via Getty Images.
-buhbye750
“I work in the theater and I am the center of attention at several competitions. The amount (especially the absence) of these 5-10-year-old girls on stage, dancing to often questionable music… The pressure of these competitions alone is dangerous, but their borderline sexualization is perverted. I don’t understand how parents can stomach it, all the more so.”
– AurFerrous
“I used to do them as a kid and I hated them. I was so happy when I had to pass my title on to another girl. It was so much work and no fun.”
– insomnia
11. “The supplement industry is unregulated.”
Fcafotodigital/Getty Images
– kp1794
12. “Gynecological procedures without anesthesia. If they were to cut tissue out of a man’s penis, I guarantee he’d at least get a local one.”
Tempura/Getty Images
– a tired baker
“This! I just had a polyp removed from my cervix for a biopsy three weeks ago. They twisted and pulled it to remove it. No anesthesia. I almost passed out from the pain.”
– Cerebral violet
13. “Predatory Student Loan Interest Rates.”
Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
-No_Spring_1090
14. “I hope for a five-day work week. A four-day work week has already been proven to be good for employee health and the employer/company by increasing productivity and morale.”
Miniseries/Getty Images
– Ayde-Aitch-Dee
Related: ‘If I Had Just Peed, I’d Be The One In The Coffin Right Now:’ 21 People Who Survived Near-Death Situations According To Their Teeth
15. “Factory Farming”.
Naphthalene/Getty Images
-Alert-Switch1179
“It’s the single biggest polluter on Earth if you count the entire production line (which, unfortunately, many statistics don’t).
– book face5
16. “7-OH kratom extract. It’s called ‘gas station heroin.’
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
– the wombat general
“I work as a forensic toxicologist, and we only recently added mitragynine (the active compound in kratom) to urine tests because our customers are asking for it more and more. It’s been getting more popular lately, and in high doses it can cause respiratory failure. It’s a very dangerous drug, the more you concentrate, even that is extremely dangerous. It’ll just kill you like heroin at any damn gas station. We’ll definitely see its legality will be in the spotlight.
-CleanHippy_07
17. “Gerrymandering”.
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
– Fomentor
18. “Sports gambling!”
Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images
– nothing to worry about
“I would be satisfied that its promotion would be illegal.
– Figgy_Puddin_Taine
19. “To allow private equity firms to buy hospitals/healthcare systems and sell them in parts. Hopefully.”
UCG/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
-Muscle-Cars-1970
20. “Dental insurance and eye insurance are separate from health insurance. We already know that the three interact a lot with each other.”
Skynesher/Getty Images
-Famous_Stop2794
21. “Climbing Everest”.
Picture Alliance / dpa / picture alliance via Getty Images.
– Huge
Related: 21 People Who Photographed Something That Could Have Killed Them
22. “Parents posting children under the age of 14 online to make them internet celebrities. Kidfluencing is child abuse.”
Iryna Olkhova/Getty Images
– Falafelville
23. “Burning coal to produce electricity.”
Joe Sohm/Visions Of America/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.
– ES_Legmanas
24. “Disposable ‘fast fashion’.”
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via getty images
– sardonically funny
25. “We’re probably being treated by all the wild data collection programs. It’s normal now, but one day people will be like, ‘Wait, why did we let companies track our every move? I really think it’s going to be illegal once everyone realizes how bad it is.’
MTStock Studio/Getty Images
-BraveMarionberry9984
26. “A lifelong career in politics or the judiciary.”
Bettmann / Bettmann Archive
-mc_stever
27. And finally, “Producing non-biodegradable plastics. We have the audacity to make fun of our ancestors for eating lead plates when our brains are all full of eternal chemicals and bits of garbage.”
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
— Special scientist70
Now I have to know – what do you think will be illegal in the future? Let us know in the comments. And if you want to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
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