The McDonald's Effect

“The McDonaldization of Society” is an essay by George Ritzer that explores the ways and consequences of society becoming more efficient. More aspects of everyday life are turning to assembly-line methods to maximize output in the shortest amount of time. Everything from heart surgery to Nazi concentration camps has become more systematic and is influenced by the mentality of extreme organization. The food we eat, the way we eat it, and what we expect from our eating experience has all changed dramatically from the McDonald’s outlook on production. Besides efficiency, predictability is one area that consumers are concerned with. Variance of any sort has been almost eliminated when it comes to meals. Gone are the days of uncertainty and cooking from cookbooks, consumers want their food to be consistent and resort to fast food and TV dinners. Society also takes the risk out of camping, travelling, and amusement parks with the introduction of RV’s, packaged tours, and Disneyland. It is hard to judge the quality of McDonald’s food, so consumers must rely on more quantitative information like size (hence the “Big Mac”). This lack of focus on quality has unfortunately seeped into our education system when arbitrary numbers are assigned as grades, professors are rated with bubble sheets, and students are only viewed as an SAT score. In order for society to become more efficient, we are continually moving away from human involvement in production. Automation in the workplace has replaced jobs that used to be performed by humans, and even drive-through churches are popping up for our convenience. The final aspect of the McDonald’s rationale is control. Genetic engineering attempts to eliminate uncertainty, as does the assembly-line set up of a McDonald’s eatery. The McDonald’s rationale is mirrored in countless aspects of life that are necessarily related to food production, but this means we are affected as a society, not just as consumers. Our lives are more efficient, but at what cost? Have we lost all uncertainty and adventure? Is having an uninteresting society worth the efficiency? After reading this I was surprised at everything that was affected by the McDonald’s rationale. I do not necessarily think that this phenomenon is a problem. I think that if people really wanted to they could avoid fast food and keep the adventure in their lives. I have never camped in an RV, and my family still eats a home cooked meal every night. It is a shame that automation has reduced human to human contact. Is the McDonald’s rational that bad considering all the ways you can avoid it and the benefits of the maximized efficiency?