Regretting a decision made in one's rash youth and dealing with it down the line is part of learning and growing. The world is ever more complex and our aggressively capitalist system thrives on coming up with new ways to scratch our itches and parting us from our money.
Better that professionals exist to safely facilitate our rash decisions than people butcher themselves and risk even greater issues down the line.
I know a lot of heavily tattooed and modded people. Some are very successful in that industry, and take their ethical responsibility very seriously. Some are in other types of business and successful.
I also know someone who specialises in tattoo removal.
At the end of the day it's an industry like any other. If the stigma didn't exist, neither would the necessity of removal perhaps?
My late DP was a body piercer for 30 years and considered a pioneer in the field so I've had plenty of discussions about all of this. People going through rehab or mental health treatment often had to have their multiple piercings removed as part of the process, and not because of safety issues. After treatment they'd be back for more because it was part of their identity.
I say horses for courses.
And again, if someone regrets a facial tattoo down the line, it's part of their journey to deal with it - their responsibility.
If you block getting it done professionally, then risks are run by doing it in an amateur fashion and it won't look remotely attractive and will more likely be a bigger problem.
So the next step is to make it illegal for people to have a facial tattoo up to a certain age, which of course will lead to people being criminalised for the way they look.
Can of authoritarian worms indeed because where would it stop?