How to torment telemarketers

[kristopher]

28. I can see that side of it; can you see the other side?

The employees of the telemarketing company are violating a very fundamental social norm revolving around beliefs about the sanctity of the home, privacy, the role of guests, and almost certainly several others. In fact, since the outrage at the intrusion was so great, we've passed a law against this and the telemarketers are now violating not just norms, but the law.

Can you think of instances where that type of behavior is looked at sympathetically because the person you interact with is just (to paraphrase) a poor schlep fronting for 'the bad guys'?

Let's go to an extreme to obtain some clarity.
If a soldier is ordered to kill innocent civilians, is the solder as guilty as the person issuing the order?

Let's step it down a bit.
If bank employees knowingly falsify mortgage documents at the behest of their employer, are they as guilty as the employer?

And a bit more.
If you are working in a convenience store, and the owner instructs you to place a couple of random items on the counter and "accidentally' ring those items up for every other customer (and the customer walks out without the items), is the cashier morally responsible?

All of those example have in common a coercive element. The soldier is bound by law to obey, and while the ability to reject and order exists, the repercussions are pretty drastic. The bank employees don't have that legal obligation to obey, but the threat of the loss of a steady job they probably have years invested in has spawned the term 'wage slave' for very valid reasons. And while the cashier at the convenience store probably isn't making a career of it, they are likely living hand to mouth on an insufficient paycheck that they can't do without.

How much slack do you cut them as individuals when they are caught in their illegal acts?

Since the telemarketers are violating the law and taking advantage of our inability to catch and hold them accountable, is it any wonder that people seek a way to exact their own form of justice?

But still it is as you say - they are just trying to make a living. But then again, all of those above are doing the same thing, are they less deserving of our sympathy?

Final thought - during Vietnam this was a popular saying, "What if they held a war and nobody showed up?"
Does improvement in society begin with each person applying morality over expediency?

Just some thoughts, no judgement rendered.