We’ve all been there, grumbling to ourselves about the things that make life harder than it should be. But what if we could get rid of these everyday frustrations by making them illegal? We decided to take a stand and gather the top things people want banned based on an interesting Reddit thread we found while looking for cool insights to share with you, Pandas. The thread received over 20,000 responses, and it’s easy to see why such a topic would go viral. Who never dreamed of becoming the supreme ruler of the world and shaping it to their own liking?
We scoured the most upvoted submissions, read comments, and collected the best ones here to give you a comprehensive list of annoying behaviors and practices that people would like to suppress with some old-style prohibition. And let me tell you, the results are both surprising and eye-opening. From the silly to the outright serious, these are the things that, if made illegal, people think would make the world a better place.
You’ll find everything from airlines overbooking flights to unpaid work experience and child beauty pageants. Of course, we’re not here to judge if you’re a law-abiding citizen or more of a rebel — rather, we’d like to explore the issues that are driving people up the wall and learn how they’d want to change society if they ruled the world for a day. Let’s go!
This post may include affiliate links.
BlueberryPiano said:
"Child beauty pageants."
AlphaStatue702 replied:
"That stuff's just really weird, and it puts a lot of stress on the children, and attracts some wrong people."
"Conversion therapy and conversion therapy camps.
They abuse kids."
As of 2022, conversion therapy is illegal in Canada. Subjecting someone to it is punishable by 5 years in prison.
"Declawing cats because it does more harm than good."
I don't even clip mines claws, they like to jump around, hang on stuff, clipping their claws wouldn't let them do that, and granted they f**k up the hardwood floor and the sofás... But thats a side effect of loving cat.
chamada said:
"Playing music on your phone’s speaker (or via a Bluetooth speaker) while in an inappropriate public place like on the bus or walking down the sidewalk."
newbeginnings845 replied:
"I hate when people blast music from their phones on a hike. No one wants to hear your music on a relaxing hike."
"Making your dog vegan."
"Actually paying people less than minimum wage.
WAITERS. SHOULD. NOT. HAVE. TO. RELY. ON. TIPS."
And from the customer side, if you don't want to tip, don't patronize a business where it's expected. If you eat at a restaurant and don't tip, you're not discouraging the culture, you're only harming the staff; the business doesn't care if you tip because they made their money.
"Treating animals poorly."
People’s treatment of animals is the way I gauge how they’ll treat humans. Kindness to animals means kindness to everyone. Cruelty to animals is usually the mark of a budding psychopath, practicing on animals before moving on to people.
"Not washing your hands after using the bathroom."
F*****g disgusting. Makes you think they’re that a*****e (pun intended) who smears s**t on bathroom walls when they’re drunk.
"Spam emails. We don't want that crap, and you shouldn't have our email addresses anyways, so screw right off."
"Televangelists and others who abuse people’s religious beliefs for gain.
People are often very attached to their religion and therefore they are easy prey. People who use religion for profit sell an invisible product to be retrieved in the after life which is particularly sickening because they get absolutely nothing. These people have nearly no money to spare but will spend it all because they are led to believe it will come back to them."
Some people hide behind religion to get away with a load of sins. They give Oscar winning performances as pious individuals when they’re at church or around other religious people. Everyone else gets to see the real person—-evil, miserable, conniving, contemptuous, narcissistic, greedy, miserly, jealous, you name it. If it’s a negative personality trait, and especially if it goes against all religious guidelines for behavior, especially the Golden Rule, it applies. (I’m not religious, but still see some sense in the basic guidelines of religious teaching that apply to peacefully coexisting amongst other people, including the Golden Rule.)
"Donations to politicians. Politicians being able to vote on their own pay raises. Lying as a politician. I'm getting real sick of politics if you couldn't tell."
therachelvoicemail said:
"Printer ink being ridiculously expensive for no reason."
technicalpumpkinhead replied:
"And having proprietary chips on the ink cartridges that forces you to either cut out the chip to place it into a much cheaper solution OR forking out $100+ more for the actually ink. I hate HP for this."
Striker690 said:
"Ads play before medical video, especially first aid one."
CherryAxoltotl replied:
"*your friend is having a literal heart attack*
youtube: buy this and this useless thing you'll never want or need..."
boole94 said:
"Standing right behind a person in a line."
voliver016 replied:
"I feel your pain. I hate standing in line and tell someone that 'PLEASE STOP POKING ME.'"
"Drivers not using the signals."
As a BMW driver, people do a double take when they see me using my signals.
"Restaurants throwing away untouched food at the end of the day."
Having worked in a restaurant that gave away left over food that was still safe to eat, it's not as easy to give away as you might think.
"Employers screwing over their employees."
estersings said:
"Companies making it really difficult to cancel things. Especially subscriptions. I think the process to subscribe to something to should be exactly the same as the process to cancel it. I'm looking at you Spotify."
Rektw replied:
"Gyms in general. before they started popping up everywhere I was a member at LA fitness. Well I moved 2hrs away from the closest one and they wanted me to come in person to cancel, then they wanted me to send in a damn letter.
I can signup online, why can't I cancel online?"
I don't see the problem with Spotify. I have cancelled it before and it was easy
"Random number phone call scams."
"Health insurance companies! Your life shouldn’t depend on your how much money you have or how good your insurance is."
Well..... Its not in most of the western world, that only happens in the US, because you know.... Socialism and social programs are the devil.....
LuciantheMistbinder said:
"Youtube ads that are longer than 30 seconds.
There are some that are 6. Minutes. Long."
PolarSaturn8823 replied:
"I’ve had a 60minute ad So I 100% agree
To anyone asking, no I couldn’t skip it."
No matter what, never use uBlock Origin. It's a very evil browser add-on that blocks all ads, including Youtube. It takes the money away from poor corporations, and we absolutely don't want that, do we?
"Smoking with kids in the car."
"Those super bright High Beams people put on their cars."
Or any damn fool using high beams in the city, or not dimming while following another car or for oncoming xars.
"Child marriage, including in the USA."
All states should readjust their minimum age to marry—-some of the more backward states still have it at 16 or under! TBH, my preference would be 21, but I can live with 18 at the minimum. At least they’d have a high school diploma by then.
"Inconsiderate people who rev their cars and motorcycles loudly looking for attention while blasting music because they are that desperate to be noticed by anyone."
Noisy cars mods should be banned. There’s always that one idiot racing around residential areas very early in the morning 🤔
SnoringChicken said:
"Scratch a plate with the fork making THAT noise."
bradybjr replied:
"Reading this gave me goosebumps."
10 years mandatory in a hard labour penitentiary center. ( Obviously Im jocking, however making the person that made the noise eat with their hands, seems an apropriated punishment )
"Having a fee charged for being 15 mins late to the doctor and having to reschedule but then turn around wait for hour(s) for the doctor with no recourse. They could at least let you know if the doctor is running late and perhaps reschedule instead of wasting our (patient's) time."
I agree about 75% on this. Sometimes they don't know ahead of time if the doctor is delayed. If you are already in the waiting room and the patient before you causes a delay, your time is already wasted - last time I checked, crystal balls aren't standard medical tools. And maybe this is geographic - any time I've been delayed at the GP I was advised by the receptionist.
look2thecookie said:
"Using children to monetize your social media channels."
Commenter replied:
"It's honestly sad that their parents force them to be the face of their social media accounts, since the children will never have a normal childhood due to their fame."
Please don't downvote me as I am genuinely curious: do people view the parents of (famous) child actors/entertainers in the same light? Like Disney Channel child stars? (Not condoning either one, just curious). I'd like to hear any and all opinions if you care to speak on it.
"Refund taking more than 3 days to appear, if they can demand to get money from me on hours notice then i should be able to demand my cash back as fast as possible."
Except the payment you make is not taken by the retailer immediately, that is why there is a delay. They literally don't have it to give it back to you.
"Puppy mills."
We adopt a lot of senior dogs, often "mill mamas" that have been rescued. We got one of my most beloved dogs at age 10 or so. The rescue was purchasing them from a mill to take them away. The mill person told them "oh you can breed them up to age 13!" ...speechless. I still miss you, Zuul. You were a Very Good Girl.
kimmyc98 said:
"Unpaid work experience."
Astepdawg29 replied:
"I wanted to get into a specific field of law and had a hard time getting any experience. There was an internship available. However, this attorney gets back to me with the longest contract saying hours would work from 9am-7:30pm (with an hour lunch) for at least 2 months. There were so many stipulations it was really crazy. I asked for a minor change on one of the terms; and so the attorney said I wasn’t a good fit. Thank goodness. That would’ve probably been a nightmare."
"Egregiously polluting the environment."
"Being elected to Congress more than 4 terms."
sunnyd311 said:
"Throwing cigarette butts out the car window."
SlaterVJ replied:
"That actually is illegal. It's littering."
Could start a roadside fire, or fly into someone's window and cause them to lose control of the car. Amazingly stupid and jerkwad idiotic.
"People that walk slowly in the store or stand in the way of passage chatting with other people."
"CEO’s taking a bonus when the company is filing for bankruptcy and putting people out of a job."
Any executive getting a bonuses while the ones actually doing the work get nothing
amboy_connector said:
"Radio commercials that contain a police or ambulance siren."
AstralVoidShaper replied:
"Music as well. Or content that contains car horns. Desensitizing people to warning symbols is never a good thing."
"Being able to breed dogs (or own) without some sort of license in the US. People just do not care enough to be good pet owners."
As a person who works with dogs ,I can't tell you how many dogs are neglected by their 'people' .
"Paparazzi."
"Spreading false or misleading information and calling it “news”. This includes muckraking a political rival during an election and especially misguided information during a pandemic (national emergency). Freedom of speech should not mean misleading the public for personal gain. Such statements need to be bracketed with a caveat “this is only an opinion and not factual.”"
tenaciousjoda said:
"For profit prisons."
DestyNovalys replied:
"In the same vain: the troubled teen industry. They’re essentially tax funded torture institutions for children. It’s absolutely disgusting."
They broke my ribs when I was 14 and never gave me medical care and here I am almost 30 with multiple health issues caused by that and other c**p they did to me
"Lobbying.
(Also known as legalized bribery)."
It's not the lobbying itself I object to, just the way it's allowed to happen. Changing the laws to require things like meetings can only happen in specific places (like the politician's office, for example), all meetings must be recorded and the recordings made available to the public, absolutely no quid pro quo under any circumstance, that sort of thing.
an_evil_budgie said:
"Not posting salaries in job descriptions."
HollywooDcizzle replied:
'"We clearly put a range, $25,000 - $80,000 depending on several unknown factors.'"
requiring entry level applicants to have 10+ years of experience, especially in a field that has only existed for a few years
sharkbomb said:
"Civil forfeiture."
tenaciousjoda replied:
"Yes.
For those who don’t know it’s when the police just take your stuff."
"Playing loud music. If I can Shazam the song you are playing from your apartment while I'm laying in bed you should be sent to the gulags."
"Companies like Blackrock buying up properties and renting them out or letting them sit vacant so their values go up because they're artificially inflating the market, keeping regular home buyers from actually owning a home.
It's messed up how they do that in the open because it's legal but it screws so many people out of homeownership which is pretty much the only way for regular people to have any shot of passing on intergenerational wealth."
Flipping houses, referring to houses that are move-in ready just to make a fast buck and make it unaffordable
"Parents filming their children dancing TikTok trends and uploading it to TikTok or Instagram. And any Instagram account there is focused on the child, no matter if the bio says “this profile is managed by the mommy”. There are not only putting their kid to the view of many bad people out there, but they are actually doing a whole pan before it: clothes, make up, do the choreography until it’s right for the camera, forcing something cute for more likes, and profiting. It makes me sick when I see a young girl dancing to the same songs and doing the same choreography that adult women dance, and then you check the comments and it’s all about other women saying things like “you go, girl” “she’s so cute!” “I want to do the same with mine” “she dances better than me”. Only women commenting because guess what? The creepy teen and old men watching it would be in jail if they posted what they were thinking."
Also, taking pictures of other peoples' children, and posting on Google or FB. Someone did this in our church. When we asked, Google took the pics down. But why do that in the first place?
"Psychics, mediums and others who profit by pushing pseudoscience.
This one bugs me quite a big deal because these people not only feed lies but do so by pretending to be scientific. They prey on the hopeless and tell them whatever they want and will sell them whatever they want in exchange for their buck."
"Bank fees. An account shouldn’t cost $18.95/mo — that’s almost double some minimum wages, including the one in my province."
Just got my bank account changed to a concession one that doesn't charge fees. Was eligible for ages, but it is getting harder to actually find bank branches open in my area and you can't change it online.
"Honestly, I just want them to reverse a lot of the copyright extensions Disney lobbied for. A whole lot of characters would be public domain if it weren't for Disney, and copyright laws were only meant to benefit the original creator, not giant corporations."
"A group of 3 or more people walking slowly down the middle of the hall or isle. GTF outta the way!"
Thank you! And people find the worst possible time to do so! People in the hallways at school has the spacial awareness of a walnut!
"It's a stupid thing, but there's no serious tag here so I'll say it:
Flying flags of any kind from your vehicle. It's a distraction and obstructs your view."
And if you're stupid enough to drive with them on the motorway when they clearly aren't rated for those sorts of speeds, they can fly off and cause hazards to other drivers.
LucianPitons said:
"Your credit score goes down because you cancelled a credit card."
isocleat replied:
"Mine dropped 30 points when I paid off my student loan because I had “closed an account.”"
Credit scores in general make no sense whatsoever. I haven't had a credit card in over 15 years, and I maintain a healthy balance in my bank accounts. I have the lowest credit rating possible. Someone like Trump, however, can have a very high rating despite carrying huge amounts of debt.
LeatherLandscape1466 said:
"MLM’s."
FarmerTex replied:
"Yes! My neighbor does Mary Kay and she aggressively bothers everyone about it. Won't take no for an answer. If you say you're happy with the product from another brand she always has a canned response reason why mk is sooooo much better.
What cracks me up is that she's complained in the past how much money she's sunk into it but then tries to rope me into being a seller. I had to finally just flat out be rude and tell her to stop trying to sell me her f*cking sh*tty products to get her to stop bothering me about it."
My aunt tried to rope my mom into one involving shucking oysters for pearls to turn into jewelry.
"HOAs being able to legally steal property from owners."
Hoa's in general have way too much power and should be eliminated in most communities. That's why cities and towns have what's called code compliance.
LeatherLandscape1466 said:
"Amway."
tenaciousjoda replied:
"(For those who don’t know this is a pyramid scheme.)"
"Trees/bushes that block us from seeing stop signs. If it already is illegal, then a stupidly high amount of people continue to break the law."
And the ones on corner properties that obstruct view of traffic on cross streets and intersections.
"Online adverts featuring large "click here to download" buttons next to the actual download link, which is generally much smaller."
"Holding civil courts where the plaintiff or defendant doesn't have an attorney, because they can't pay for it. Pay for play justice is the root of massive wage theft, abuse, and political corruption."
"The exploitation of stupid people for profit.
This to me, is simply one of the most immoral and widespread things that happen in society. There are simply countless instances of this occurring and it is always a very intelligent person lying to anybody who will listen to him so that he can make a buck. I see this happen in many forms from televangelists repeatedly taking money from those who can't afford it to Dr. Oz selling scams on T.V., as a real doctor, to people who think they can trust him. What bugs me most about these is that the people selling the “products” do not believe in them one bit. They know full well that they are pushing nonsense but do it because it makes them a lot of money. Some of the things I would include in the “exploitation of stupid people for profit” are.”"
"Personal NDAs, you shouldn't be able to pay off people you've abused and keep it out of public eyes. The people deserve to know what type of person they are, not allow them to hide behind money."
Mtt76812 said:
"'Hi, I'm X. We're trying to reach you regarding your car's extended warranty.'"
wellboys replied:
"Must be one extended warranty, still getting calls about it daily and I haven't owned a car in 8 years."
I got a call like that on the day I got my brand new car, it only had 15 miles on it.... I cursed the idiot out till he hung up
"Scalping and using bots to buy things, generally by scalpers.
It's a plague on pretty much every hobby and fandom. From consoles and graphics cards to TCGs, Amiibos, and Funkos, to every kind of live event. All by a bunch of people who can't be bothered to get a real job and actually produce something. They're just a giant tax on our whole economy."
"Direct to consumer pharmaceutical ads.
I will not talk to my doctor about your stupid drug that will probably give me some sort of adverse butt reaction then pop up in a JG Wentworth class action lawsuit ad in 12 months."
CaptainCayden2077 said:
"The small crack in bathroom stalls."
MalzxTheTerrible replied:
"Agreed. Should be more like 5-10mm. I can't hardly see through those little cracks."
"A service charge at a restaurant that isn’t clearly and obviously stated beforehand."
In France, service used to be à 10% addition to the check until à law a few decades ago, made it mandatory for it to be included in the price of the dishes. Which caused quite à few "cheeky waiters" to say "service is included, not the tip". We do tip here, just not as much, because we know waiters are fully paid.
"Buying stuff like cars or whatever in your minor childs name, so that they build up a debt BEFORE THEY'RE EVEN AUTHORIZED TO PAY IT OFF...
Can get in trouble for unpaid loans the literal day they become 18...
The day a minor turned 18 (or whatever age it is in your country) any and all debts placed on the child by their parents should be transferred to said parents."
"Loot boxes in videogames. In Belgium those aren't allowed, it baffles me that gambling with real money in a videogame, which is played by people that aren't even 18yo, is allowed almost everywhere."
