Pocker’s basic simplicity and unkindness exposes his ignorance as to the genuine problems of consumption. His design of anarchy in retail scarcely scratches the surface of the problem of globalization and narrow-minded consumerism, electing instead to effectively piss off retail stores and outlets as much as possible.
That Pocker admittedly takes such pleasure in “flipping out” on underpaid, over-worked retail workers is astonishing. That he continues to brood over why his “ass is not being kissed” by minimum wage workers with no health care benefits, no fair wages, and no union protection is just flat-out conceited. That he continues to drive the sequence by progressing mass consumption and all but ignoring the vast role the corporations play in the final dynamic is beyond perplexing.
Pocker’s basic claim when it comes to retail is that the customer should get what he or she pays for. This is a fair principle that few would argue with.
Retail Anarchy features various stories about how Pocker combined a coupon with another coupon and a rebate or another discount and wound up with an alarming amount of products that they (“the manufacturer”) paid him to take. At one point this leads Pocker to purchase an alarming amount of Pepsi, finishing the deal by dumping 48 cans of the mud down the drain after not realizing that they “go bad after time.”
Interestingly, Pocker never seems to see this as mass consumption because he utilizes coupons or is paid “to take the merchandise.” Because he does not spend money consuming various name-brand products, he is somehow not contributing to the problem of rabid consumerism.
Pocker frequently posits that the fundamental reason most consumers do not use coupons or rebates is because they are harassed by retail workers or peeved cashiers. The evidence to back this claim appears to be his personal experience, made all the more fascinating by his debasing approach towards retail. It couldn’t possibly be true that the reason he faces so many irritated cashiers is because he obviously and persistently looks down upon them, could it?
Retail Anarchy is arranged somewhat like a series of blog posts, with some relating to one another and others simply existing so that Pocker can get a “joke” in. He spends extensive time discussing restaurants, mocking the “cesspool of human failure” waiting for tables at the Cheesecake Factory.
It is incredibly ironic that he decries the generalization of people and encourages us all to sing and hold hands together as we’re all “human.” Apparently we are supposed to overlook his despicable assessment of retail workers as Special Olympics athletes and fail to notice his strangely racist invectives, often precluded by the disclaimer "Not to be racist, but..."
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