If there is a fine involved with a certain behavior, this can commoditize the behavior in a way - it's an extra option that you can buy. An interesting histori

If there is a fine involved with a certain behavior, this can commoditize the behavior in a way - it's an extra option that you can buy. An interesting historical example for this may be the trading of indulgences (pardons for sins) in the late Middle Ages. When (parts of) the church started to sell indulgences, so that people could pay for spending less time in purgatory for minor sins lead to a veritable explosion of trade with absolution of sin, financing wars, construction projects etc. Minor sinning was suddenly not that serious anymore for the wealthy and the church gained even more economic power. Indulgences were even sold for dead relatives. Think about your family worrying for the soul of your dead aunt (who had a bad habit of blashpheming) and trying to scrape together what is effectively ransom for an imaginary hostage... While the rich were relatively fine with the system, the poor were now even discriminated against in the afterlife, since they couldn't just buy their dead realtives or themselves a shorter time in purgatory. In some theologicians' eyes this clashed with dogma and to the public would end up as one factor driving the reformation.