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30 Answers Folks In This Online Group Had To The Question “What Is Something That Is Illegal But Isn’t Wrong Ethically?”
Laws are there to protect us, but some of them are just silly. You may even have broken them without being aware of it because some of the things that are punishable just seem so innocent. Or maybe you know that those things are against the law but you don’t feel like morally you’re doing something wrong.
Of course, morals are a subjective thing, but some laws do really fall into the grey area. Redditors were discussing the very topic of what is illegal by the book but they wouldn’t consider it wrong ethically.
Almost 40k people liked the thread and 18k people joined the conversation. In this list you will find people’s opinions of what illegal activities aren’t so bad that many redditors agreed upon. We would like you to join the discussion and leave your thoughts about the topic in the comments!
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Being gay is still illegal in a lot of countries but it really shouldn’t be.
Jay walking and crossing the street on a red lights, as a pedestrian, when there are no cars around.
Taking food, from an employer, that was about to get thrown away anyway
You can not own more then 75 salamanders in the state of Illinois, how tf am I gonna start salamander trafficking now. F**k Illinois
u cant OWN......they r free to visit..n stay overnight, n also I prolly can like foster them or smth....NOT OWN
Drinking a beer while 20 years old - bonus points if you’re home on leave from legally fighting in a war for your country
THIS! If the government considers you old enough to go to war then they should d@mn well let you have a bloody beer.
Opposition in my country
the government will say freedom to thought...but u cant think against us, or dislike our favorite ice cream, or think about how v r wrong
Handing out water to people waiting in line to vote
Also, why the **** are you queueing to vote? There seems to be some kind of weird strategy in the States to make it as hard as possible to cast your vote. In the UK we normally close schools for polling day and turn them into polling stations - lots of them - and they are open from about 8am until 10pm. And on top of that we have a postal voting system as well, that is completely free (you don't have to pay postage and you can post it back from any post box).
Pirating media that isn't available for purchase in your area. You weren't going to get my money either way.
Downloading Roms of old games. We all know you don't own any of those games, but if companies aren't willing to rerelease them then it should be good to download roms online.
Collecting rain water
Credentialing laws for things that don’t carry much danger if you do them incorrectly, for example requiring a license to be a florist.
Withdrawal of care in terminal illness in some places unfortunately
allowing nature to take its course is not unethical. If someone is unrecoverably terminally ill and incompetent like in a long-term coma, the removal of artificial life support that is keeping them alive is not wrong ethically. Allow some time like 10-30 days to see if they can come out of their coma on their own. This can happen. There is no compelling ethical reason to keep someone in an unrecoverable coma indefinitely on artificial life support. Let them move on to heaven and a better life. It is actually wrong to forcibly hold them back. It is however wrong to do anything to cause an untimely death like euthanasia.
It is illegal for restaurants in Kansas to sell Cherry pie a la mode on Sunday.
in Germany it’s illegal to put hands on the steering wheel (as a passenger) even if the driver is unconscious
Uh, it is not really illegal. but you should have a good explanation, when something happens because of that. It calls "Gefährlicher Eingriff in den Straßenverkehr" and is punished with a max of 3 years in prison and/or a fine.
Choosing which public school your kid goes to, tons of ppl I know moved within the same town but 10 minutes farther, so they were meant to go to a different school, but my friends all used the old address so they could finish the year with everyone they knew
Playing on a playground after it closes, usually after 8 or 9pm
In a lot of states, you can just slam on your brakes at will, let someone rear end you, and they will be at fault in the eyes of the law.
Making an adaptation of a piece of media from your grandparents' childhood without a licence because the creator passed away less than 75 years ago.
Upgrading my old trucks exhaust with modern emissions products is a felony. I have to make it as s***ty as it was when it was built. Vented gas cap instead of charcoal canister, vented valve covers instead of a vacuum pcv for crank case blow by. And cant put on a modern obd ii catalytic converter, its a felony.
Making photocopies of sheet music.
Some people may disagree with me
This bugged the crap out of me when I was leading a high school orchestra. Sure, we'll buy the legit score for $120 or whatever, but why shouldn't I be able to make copies? The kids rarely take good care of their sheet music, and even the ones that do have to add all their notes to it. Such a scam
Pirating adobe products
There are loads of free alternatives to Adobe products. If you use Photoshop, download Gimp. It works exactly the same. The only thing you can't do (last time I checked) was work in CMYK mode, which isn't that big of a deal unless you do a lot of print work.
You will probably get a ticket if you stop traffic to hurry along a family of ducks.
Cutting the do not remove tag off a mattress.
In some states, leaving the doors on discarded refrigerators.
It is literally illegal to leave a fridge at a scrapyard without first removing the doors.
Some might say that leaving the doors on your discarded refrigerator is not morally wrong.
When I was a kid in the 90s, I remember on Sundays in the supermarket the beer and wine was roped off with signage, as alcohol wasn't sold on Sundays. I mean wtf, it's clearly a religious thing. I'm glad that law is gone, even though I can't drink personally, I don't see why it should get a blanket ban for a religion
In Texas, USA you still can’t buy spirits or liquor on Sunday. The liquor stores busiest time during the week is Monday morning because all the alcoholics rush in to re-supply.
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Picky landscaping laws. It was illegal where we used to live to have weeds or grass growing in your driveway cracks. That's just a tax on overworked people who can't keep their yard flawless. Also Sunday liquor laws. If you don't like alcohol that's fine, but banning it once a week is just ridiculous.
Perhaps a more political answer to this question would be prostitution. Having sex with others for cash is illegal in many places, but not unethical. It's shocking that it is still illegal in many places.
I agree, and the same for drugs. Legal prostitution actually drives down sexual violence, sex trafficking, especially of minors, and allows for sex workers to create a much safer working environment for themselves. SESTA/FOSTA laws actually caused an uptick in violence against sex workers because it shut down online networks that allowed workers to earn each other of dangerous johns, have a system to check in on each other, and effectively pushed minor victims even further out of sight and opportunity to escape. Dealing drugs is so violent and dangerous because of prohibition (the US seemed to learn this when it came to the white man's most profitable drug, which actually caused and causes far more damage than any other drug, which is alcohol) Drugs and prostitution are illegal in order to police black and female bodies.
Load More Replies... When I was a kid in the 90s, I remember on Sundays in the supermarket the beer and wine was roped off with signage, as alcohol wasn't sold on Sundays. I mean wtf, it's clearly a religious thing. I'm glad that law is gone, even though I can't drink personally, I don't see why it should get a blanket ban for a religion
In Texas, USA you still can’t buy spirits or liquor on Sunday. The liquor stores busiest time during the week is Monday morning because all the alcoholics rush in to re-supply.
Load More Replies... Picky landscaping laws. It was illegal where we used to live to have weeds or grass growing in your driveway cracks. That's just a tax on overworked people who can't keep their yard flawless. Also Sunday liquor laws. If you don't like alcohol that's fine, but banning it once a week is just ridiculous.
Perhaps a more political answer to this question would be prostitution. Having sex with others for cash is illegal in many places, but not unethical. It's shocking that it is still illegal in many places.
I agree, and the same for drugs. Legal prostitution actually drives down sexual violence, sex trafficking, especially of minors, and allows for sex workers to create a much safer working environment for themselves. SESTA/FOSTA laws actually caused an uptick in violence against sex workers because it shut down online networks that allowed workers to earn each other of dangerous johns, have a system to check in on each other, and effectively pushed minor victims even further out of sight and opportunity to escape. Dealing drugs is so violent and dangerous because of prohibition (the US seemed to learn this when it came to the white man's most profitable drug, which actually caused and causes far more damage than any other drug, which is alcohol) Drugs and prostitution are illegal in order to police black and female bodies.
Load More Replies...