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Comment by spodek | Hacker News Reader

Not exactly early, but hopefully growing: gardening, minimalism, exercise, reading, writing, playing instruments, sports, cooking, dating, arts, crafts, and other similar activities. I'd say sex, but I don't know if I can distinguish the kinds that aren't regulated.

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There are tons of regulations around gardening (illegal plant/seed imports in many states, regulations on how your yard looks, sale of produce); playing instruments (when/where/how loud); sports (depending on context); cooking (for public consumption or distribution, even if free); sex (although most of those are going away).

Sex regulation isn't going away. Look at SESTA/FOSTA

In the US, regulating sex was a priority that predates the government by a couple hundred years.

If you mean the geographical region corresponding to what is today the US, we can be confident that regulating sex was a priority for the last many thousands of years.

If you mean the cultural entity from which the US descends, we can be absolutely certain that regulating sex was a priority for the last many thousands of years. (We are generally happy to trace US regulations back to pre-colonial England; I don't see why we wouldn't do the same here.)

Some aspects of sex are definitely regulated, at least in some places. Look at laws making sodomy illegal, or laws defining penalties for adultery. Also laws about prostitution. Or "alienation of affection"[1] laws which, while not strictly about sex, often come up in the context of extra-marital affairs. Also, age of consent laws. And sex-offender registries, etc., etc.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alienation_of_affections

all of what you mentioned are regulated. certainly gardening (can't even import/export seeds), reading and writing are heavily censored nowadays, everything else has health/safety regulations sex trade is certainly banned in the US and heavily regulated everywhere

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