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You are given the power to make three things illegal. What would you choose?

705 replies

SpringSunshineanddaffodils · 27/04/2025 08:40

I know people will post silly things that irritate them but think seriously. What three things would you make completely illegal right now?
Here's mine:

  1. The right to buy your council house
  2. Owning more than one property.
  3. Not keeping your cat contained in your own home. With hefty fines if it is caught killing any wildlife.
OP posts:
TempestTost · 06/05/2025 14:08

pornography

Social media and video games of certain types for kids - ie the ones designed like gambling to be addictive

Sticky traps for mice

TempestTost · 06/05/2025 14:12

Oh, maybe I would ban those fleets of bikes who don't bother to move over when they have a chance. Which would probably mean defining how many could be in a group or how far they can go without letting others pass.

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:14

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:06

'You don't get to have an opinion on things that are defined concepts.' I get to have an opinion on whether those 'defined concepts' actually constitute to what freedom of speech should be. Again, you don't get to tell anyone what they can have an opinion on.

Jesus. No you don't!
Freedom of speech is an absolute.
You get an opinion on how much we should limit it.

Why can't you see the difference?

topcat2014 · 06/05/2025 14:15

CanYouTurnItDown · 27/04/2025 08:49

Here are my three, I’ve taken the liberty of suggesting a punishment too.

Moaning about dogs - scold’s bridal
Dropping litter - made to go and work on the rubbish tips (wherever they used to show clips of this on comic relief) looking for stuff to sell to survive. We could share their worldly goods with the people who have to work there so it helps those people too.
People who block junctions in traffic jams - cars should be removed and they should be banned from driving

Two drivers nearly came to blows at the junction outside the shop I'm working in today..

ACynicalDad · 06/05/2025 14:17
  1. Ban any type of muscle dogs and ban anything like an Alsatian being kept unless licenced for security.
  2. Rubbish roadworks - Utility companies remain responsible for their repairs for 5 years.
  3. Cars without speed limiters, I'm sure the tech exists to ban anyone speeding.
MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:18

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:04

God no. There are no "freedom of speech" laws. You don't need laws to give you the right to do something, you have a right to do anything there isn't a law against.
"People are being arrested for breaking hate speech laws" would suffice. If you like add "..hate speech laws which limit our freedom of speech too heavily in my opinion".
That would actually say what you mean instead of being nonsense.

Edited

God you are hard work.

"People are being arrested for breaking hate speech laws.' This is the issue isn't it. People are being arrested under the guise of 'hate speech' or some other such law and are later found to have done no such thing. So what have they actually been arrested for? Suspicion of hate speech that wasn't actually hate speech we just called it that at the time when in fact it was just you exercising your freedom of speech but we didn't like the contents of it? Do you see how loosely these things can be applied.

So I stand by people are getting arrested because they have exercised their right to freedom of speech, regardless of legislation that is misused in order to silence people.

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:19

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:14

Jesus. No you don't!
Freedom of speech is an absolute.
You get an opinion on how much we should limit it.

Why can't you see the difference?

If freedom of speech is an absolute why are their different definition of what freedom of speech is by country!

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:25

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:19

If freedom of speech is an absolute why are their different definition of what freedom of speech is by country!

There aren't.

There are different limits.

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:31

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:25

There aren't.

There are different limits.

Yes there are. Have a quick Google if you like.

I think we can agree this has got beyond exasperating.

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:39

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:31

Yes there are. Have a quick Google if you like.

I think we can agree this has got beyond exasperating.

No there are not.
The right of absolute freedom of speech is restricted everywhere, in different ways.
The default is no laws, and full freedom of speech. But nobody does this.
You are arrested for breaking the laws of the country which restrict freedom of speech by saying "you can't say x" , not for "freedom of speech".
Please stop.

MerlinsBeard1 · 06/05/2025 14:52

AthWat · 06/05/2025 14:39

No there are not.
The right of absolute freedom of speech is restricted everywhere, in different ways.
The default is no laws, and full freedom of speech. But nobody does this.
You are arrested for breaking the laws of the country which restrict freedom of speech by saying "you can't say x" , not for "freedom of speech".
Please stop.

Edited

We have gone over this enough now. I won't repeat myself.

You please stop.

Freeasa · 06/05/2025 15:04

Dogs
Deliveroo etc
people wearing pj’s outwith their bedroom.

PinataHeeHaw · 10/05/2025 13:01

Freeasa · 06/05/2025 15:04

Dogs
Deliveroo etc
people wearing pj’s outwith their bedroom.

Dogs?

zingally · 10/05/2025 13:31
  • Lorries using anything other than the slow lane on a motorway.
  • Eating on public transport.
  • Using a second home to generate income.
BadLad · 10/05/2025 13:37

PinataHeeHaw · 10/05/2025 13:01

Dogs?

It means “not a cat”.

WhereAreTheWildThingsNow · 10/05/2025 14:33

Postbox toppers
Any clothing that makes a fashion feature out of a bottom. Scrunch bum leggings and teenage boys with their trousers halfway down their legs spring to mind.
Private Education

Simonjt · 10/05/2025 16:40

After a trip into town today, slow walkers that weave rather than walking in a fairly straight line on the pavement.

taxguru · 10/05/2025 19:37

Simonjt · 10/05/2025 16:40

After a trip into town today, slow walkers that weave rather than walking in a fairly straight line on the pavement.

Likewise dog walkers who weave all over the pavement or let their dogs randomly run from side to side on long leads tripping up people trying to pass them and causing havoc for cyclists who don't know which side to pass. We definitely need to make spatial awareness a legal requirement to be let out in public.

comeandhaveteawithme · 12/05/2025 12:56

FlakyCritic · 05/05/2025 04:20

Wildlife is no more special or deserving than cats. Wildlife itself eats wildlife. So this 'oh the poor wildlife that are killed' is batshit bonkers imo. Also I hope you have your front and backyard all enclosed because you wouldn't want bird shit in your yard... Or frog shit, or etc.

A load of fuss over nothing, when birds shit on your roof, lawn etc.

Cats are not on an equal playing field with wildlife. They are an invasive species with a huge and completely unnatural advantage over wildlife and occur in much greater numbers than they would if they occurred naturally because we feed, house them and take care of their medical needs. It's not about who's more deserving. It's about the damage they do. They are an absolute menace to the ecosystem.
This has already been explained many times on this thread.
But as usual, cat owners are trotting out the same old excuses in order to justify their lack of any responsibility for their pet because their little fluffy friend makes them happy without them having to put in any effort.
Everyone else is, of course, the batshit ones.

comeandhaveteawithme · 12/05/2025 12:57

taxguru · 10/05/2025 19:37

Likewise dog walkers who weave all over the pavement or let their dogs randomly run from side to side on long leads tripping up people trying to pass them and causing havoc for cyclists who don't know which side to pass. We definitely need to make spatial awareness a legal requirement to be let out in public.

OMG, the ones with the long leads that stretch across the entire pavement while they amble along with their face in their phones 🙄

FlakyCritic · 13/05/2025 01:08

comeandhaveteawithme · 12/05/2025 12:56

Cats are not on an equal playing field with wildlife. They are an invasive species with a huge and completely unnatural advantage over wildlife and occur in much greater numbers than they would if they occurred naturally because we feed, house them and take care of their medical needs. It's not about who's more deserving. It's about the damage they do. They are an absolute menace to the ecosystem.
This has already been explained many times on this thread.
But as usual, cat owners are trotting out the same old excuses in order to justify their lack of any responsibility for their pet because their little fluffy friend makes them happy without them having to put in any effort.
Everyone else is, of course, the batshit ones.

Every species is just a species. 'Invasive' or not, animals are animals. All with strengths and weaknesses. All your batshit catastrophising is irrelevant. Birds can fly to escape ground prey, and have a 'completely unnatural advantage' too. No species is more deserving than the other.

comeandhaveteawithme · 13/05/2025 11:42

FlakyCritic · 13/05/2025 01:08

Every species is just a species. 'Invasive' or not, animals are animals. All with strengths and weaknesses. All your batshit catastrophising is irrelevant. Birds can fly to escape ground prey, and have a 'completely unnatural advantage' too. No species is more deserving than the other.

Oh my goodness.

Birds... flying... is also "completely unnatural?"

Wow. That's... special.

I'm not sure I know how to talk to you, but I'll give it one more go.

Cats are not a native species anywhere. They are a domesticated species. We have been domesticating them for thousands of years but their native ecosystem is... nowhere. Their natural prey is... nothing. We feed them because they are a domesticated species, bred by us, for domestication.
If domesticated cats go outside unsupervised, they are an unnatural component to an already evolved and developed ecosystem that has a natural balance and has taken a very long time, millions of years, to get there.
And alongside that, all living things, animals and plants, have evolved in order to fit into these naturally balanced ecosystems. So throwing ANY unnatural and non-native predator into the mix is going to cause serious disruption. Even more so if this is a predator that is being professionally cared for by vets, fed as much food as it needs by humans, and cared for in a warm and safe home that it doesn't need to fight for or build itself. It's going to have a hugely unfair advantage over other large predators at the top of the food chain so that carefully balanced ecosystem is going to be seriously threatened.
This is not the same as birds having wings, it's not the same as foxes having claws and sharp teeth, it's not the same as hedgehogs having spikes. Those are biological traits that have evolved over a very long time that the ecosystem has managed to fit into the balance of things.

All parts of developed ecosystems and food webs are connected, and inter-balanced, as I am sure you learnt in primary school.
For example, if a local fox population is decreased or wiped out, this will likely increase the number of their natural prey, such as rabbits, which will likely have an impact on the local vegetation which rabbits eat.
If a bird or bat population is decreased or wiped out, this means there will be less predators to keep insects in check and also less seed distributors (because birds distribute seeds), which again will have an impact on vegetation, which might effect animals which eat the vegetation such as rabbits, and if there are less of those then there's less food for the animals at the top of the food chain and so on and so forth.. it is all connected. You've seen the lion king, right? We are all connected in the great circle of life, Simba. Even Disney gets it.

So, quite frankly, claiming "animals are animals, none is more important that an other" is definitely bonkers batshit crazy at best, and shockingly ignorant and short-sighted at worst.

If we just chose what animals we wanted everywhere all the time, the world would be a very different place. And not in a good way.

Hope that helps.

nfg · 13/05/2025 12:52

Baby showers. Social media hype. My friend got grief when she decided not to have a baby shower.

Retired people shopping on Saturday mornings then complain how busy is it.

Parents that park their cars outside DC's school all day. They get a lift from a friend or a fellow parent living nearby, then the process is reversed at home time. Make road around schools no waiting during school days and hours.

nfg · 13/05/2025 12:56

More
. Look at screen of mobile phone when crossing roads
. To ride motorbikes and mopeds for business use without passing test. 99% of food courier riders are this
. Charging people to take their old white goods away. This is why they are fly tipped.

SpringSunshineanddaffodils · 13/05/2025 13:38

FlakyCritic · 13/05/2025 01:08

Every species is just a species. 'Invasive' or not, animals are animals. All with strengths and weaknesses. All your batshit catastrophising is irrelevant. Birds can fly to escape ground prey, and have a 'completely unnatural advantage' too. No species is more deserving than the other.

Wow. This is just next level ignorance.

People really are scarily unaware of how the world around them works. Their very own environment. Unbelievable.

Please tell me your are trolling.

OP posts: