McDonaldization: Predictability and Societal Impact

QQCT Passage 1: “Third, McDonald’s offers us predictability. We know that the Egg McMuffin we eat in New York will be, forever, identical to those we have eaten in Chicago and Los Angeles. We also know that the ones we order next week or next year will be identical to the one we eat today. There is great comfort in knowing that McDonald’s offers no surprises, that the food we eat at one time or in one place will be identical to the food we eat at another time or in another place. We know that the next Egg McMuffin we eat will not be awful, but we also know that it will not be exceptionally delicious. The success of the McDonald’s model indicates that many people have come to prefer a world in which there are no surprises.” (338) I found this passage very applicable to everyday thinking. More specifically, it makes complete sense why people go to fast food restaurants so regularly, as they are reliable in taste. Consequently, when someone is placed in a scenario that they need food, preferably that caters to their preferences, a fast food restaurant is usually the first choice because the taste in most fast food chains are the same anywhere you go. Passage 2: “ In discussing McDonaldization, we are not dealing with an all-or-nothing process. Things are not either McDonaldized or not McDonaldized. There are degrees of McDonaldization; it is a continuum. Some phenomena have been heavily McDonaldized, others moderately McDonaldized, and some only slightly McDonaldized. There are some phenomena that may have escaped McDonaldization completely. Fast-food restaurants, for example, have been heavily McDonaldized, universities moderately McDonaldized, and the Mom and Pop grocers mentioned earlier only slightly McDonaldized. It is difficult to think of social phenomena that have escaped McDonaldization totally, but I suppose there is a local enterprise in Fiji that has been untouched by this process.” (342) When looking at society in a macro perspective, it is interesting to see the components that are McDonaldized, like big grocery stores and fast food restaurants, while looking at components that are not. Moreover, it is clear that McDonaldization is a daily part of most of our lives and it goes so unrecognized because of how blended it is within our lives. Question: To what extent is McDonaldization beneficial for overall social stability? Connection: As mentioned in the article, some of the critiques about McDonaldization I agree with are the irrationalities that come with it. For instance, the article mentions that fast food companies spend billions of dollars preparing ads to promote their companies, but there are no commercials informing children of the health risks that come with it. Therefore, because of the power and reach these fast food businesses have gained, they become very powerful to an extent that can be dangerous. Similar to many big companies, the wealth and benefits these corporations make exploits the current society’s desire for efficiency and capitalizes off of it. Moreover, because of the assimilation of McDonaldization in society, many people do not see the harm in it, because it is so embedded. More specifically, the health risks, the dehumanized work setting, and the extent companies will go to refine their efficiency and effectiveness contributes to the idea that the power of corporations that are responsible for McDonaldization can be too powerful . Thus, McDonaldization has contributed much to the current society, as we do expect things that cater to our tastes in a timely and efficient manner, but the rate that McDonaldization is occurring can be harmful to overall physical and mental health. Takeaway: Ritzer describes what McDonaldization is and the main 4 points that create the success of McDonaldization: efficiency, quantification, predictability, substitution of non-human technology to human technology. With each success he describes how it is applied in scenarios, like how the taste of an Egg McMuffin is the same everywhere (predictability). Additionally, he also describes the critiques, like how it denies human reason and can be dehumanizing. The conclusion focuses on the fact that McDonaldization did not dominate our society, rather it is slowly being more integrated into society, and there are varying degrees of McDonaldization.