What's The Worst That Could Happen?

A strange thought occurred to me connecting two subjects I've never connected in my mind before, US Military recruiters and chuggers (charity muggers). Both home in on people they deem fits their criteria like limpet mines, bombard them with emotional (and patriotic in the case of the US military) blackmail and propaganda, then sign them up for a future commitment. The major difference is that when chuggers do it, it's not life or limb threatening.

Not living in the US, I can only go on what I've seen, heard and read in various media about what they do and how they do it, but I'm well aware of the scum known as chuggers. They target places to set up camp, such as heavily trafficked pedestrian areas where people have to pick a wide and wavy path to avoid them, and even the obvious "fuck off, I'm not interested" body language goes completely ignored as they change directions multiple times to ensure they intercept and block you.

They both want to tell you about all the good work they do, all the people who they've helped and can continue to help if only you'll just sign this form with some commitments attached. They target people when they're busy, or feel peer pressure to sign. They don't care if people are vulnerable, emotional or inebriated, all they want is a signature on the form. The more scattered their current state of mind is, the easier prey they are. It's the modern day equivalent to the press gang where they bob you over the head with a club and drag you onboard the ship. They have targets to meet. In the case of charities it's money coming in, in the case of the military it's body bags to fill, killed in some land who see them as greedy occupiers.

Do they draw attention to the cancellation rights? Are there cancellation rights? If I sign up to some chugger form, get home and think "nah, I don't think so" I can cancel the direct debit, phone up and cancel the agreement I signed. What happens with the US military? "You want to cancel? Are you a patriot? Patriots don't cancel, patriots fight!" The fight has already begun, the emotional blackmail started by the recruiters comes into effect with the people in the administration end.

The reason I'm singling out the US military for this post is that I've seen, read and heard about them and their tactics. I'd imagine other countries have different variants of signing up the body bags. The UK military have trailers sometimes set up with soldiers manning it in town centres. The major difference is that they don't target people like predators, they let people who are interested come to them.

So what's the worst that could happen? You could be down a few direct debit payments and a lot of phone calls as the charity fights your attempts to exercise control over your own money it thinks it has a right to after one of it's representatives blackmailed you into signing something you wouldn't have otherwise signed. Or you could find yourself forced into military training, then onto a warzone to lose life or limb for a cause you may or may not believe in or even understand, all because the salesman in a military uniform was slick and manipulative in order to get your signature.

Some people are easily caught up in the emotion of the moment and they know it. They count on it. They exploit it. Some people are easily bamboozled with the narrative that it distracts their logical thinking, or they may not be worldly wise enough to spot a sales pitch for what it is. This is the reason an age limit is put on certain contracts, or that a parent or guardian must be present.

It reminds me of a Futurama episode where Bender and Fry sign up for the military to get a military discount, then cancel, only to find there's a clause which prevents cancellation if war breaks out. Yes you guessed it, as soon as they have signed up, war breaks out and the episode turns into a hilarious blend of Starship Troopers and MASH.