Sindustries - industries that fulfill peoples 'sinful' desires.

What are sinful desires?

Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. 1

What constitutes a sin is subjective and open to interpretation.

That said:

No society can be stable unless there is a basic core of value judgments that are unthinkably accepted by the bulk of its members 2

This means that while subjective, in most societies there are some behaviors, that while potentially tolerated are seen as something society would be better minimizing.

Generally sins are considered behaviors that are considered immoral, selfish, shameful, harmful, or alienating 1

The Business of Sin

As with anything people desire, there are always those willing to fulfill that desire for personal gain.

In our modern society, advances in technology allow the creation of massive organizations that fulfill peoples desires at scale - including desires considered sins for profit. I'll refer to these businesses as Sindustries.

I'll name a few legalized businesses so we can be more specific in our discussion of what industries might be considered sindustries.

The use of Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana and Gambling, are generally considered harmful for the health of individual users and those around. The effects of Tobacco3, Alcohol4 5, Marijuana 6, and Gambling 7 are well documented.

The incentive system for the industry is to encourage the 'sinful' behavior because it is profitable. All of these industries advertise on: packaging, billboards, TV commercials, and online ads to glamorize the behavior often with celebrity endorsement. It's an interesting contradiction, public health officials attempt to minimize the sinful behavior while industry is actively encouraging it.

  1. Sin on Wikipedia ↩

  2. Friedman, Milton, and Rose D. Friedman. 1962. Capitalism and Freedom. 40th Anniversary edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ↩

  3. Tobacco health effects on Wikipedia According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. In children, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is associated with a higher incidence and severity of respiratory illnesses, middle ear disease, and asthma attacks. ↩

  4. Bryazka, Dana, Marissa B. Reitsma, Max G. Griswold, Kalkidan Hassen Abate, Cristiana Abbafati, Mohsen Abbasi-Kangevari, Zeinab Abbasi-Kangevari et al. "Population-level risks of alcohol consumption by amount, geography, age, sex, and year: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020." The Lancet 400, no. 10347 (2022): 185-235. Alcohol consumption at any level is associated with health loss from several diseases, including liver cirrhosis, breast cancer, and tuberculosis, as well as injuries. ↩

  5. Topiwala, Anya, Klaus P. Ebmeier, Thomas Maullin-Sapey, and Thomas E. Nichols. "No safe level of alcohol consumption for brain health: observational cohort study of 25,378 UK Biobank participants." MedRxiv (2021): 2021-05. No safe dose of alcohol for the brain was found. Moderate consumption is associated with more widespread adverse effects on the brain than previously recognised. ↩

  6. Marijuana Wikipedia ↩

  7. Gambing on Wikipedia ↩