Mcdonalization Essay Research Paper Is Mcdonaldization InevitableGeorge

fast, gave me large cokes in a flimsy cardboard container. The coke went from the window

onto to my car seat. Later it was established that the lids weren?t even properly placed on the

glasses. This is also and example of the irrationality of rational systems. The lines at the

fast-food restaurants can be very long, and waiting to get through the drive-thru can even take

longer than going inside.

In addition, Ritzer explains that in Mcdonaldization establishes control through the

substitution of nonhuman for human technology. He explains that ?…these two elements are

closely linked. Specifically, replacement of human by nonhuman technology is often oriented

towards greater control. The great source of uncertainty and unpredictability in a

rationalizing system are people-either the people who work within those systems or the

people who are served by them? (Ritzer, 148). For example, in my telemarketing job,

individuality is frowned upon. The idea is to read the screen and deviate as little as possible.

The human employee is not required to think, just follow the instructions and push the button

now and then. What this means is that the skills and capabilities of the human actor are

quickly becoming things of the past. Who we are and how we interact is becoming defined

by our dependence upon and subordination to the machine.

Even so, there is a great perception among American consumers in particular that

Mcdonaldized systems succeed from their own point of view based on those criteria: the

systems are perceived to be more efficient, the benefits calculable, the goods and services

predictable. But it’s rare that the consumer will ever feel himself to be more in control.

Mcdonaldized systems take away a great deal of consumer autonomy, making decisions and

implementing processes on a mass-market scale with little room for individual involvement

on the part of a single customer or even a single store or plant manager. The benefit of control

is one that accrues exclusively to the company. Why would so many Americans value a

system that robs them of even the right to make the simplest decisions? The answer is

complex. Ritzer points out that ?in a society where both parents are likely to work, or where

there may be only a single parent, efficiently satisfying the hunger and many other needs is

attractive? (Ritzer,9). For example, if grabbing a doughnut and coffee from Dunkin? Donuts

in the morning is the price to pay to sleep that extra hour in the morning, most Americans

would support Mcdonaldization. Mcdonaldization is a result of a ?productive? society. In

free market society, companies are looking to maximize profits and managers are looking to

maximize sales. Employers want efficiency and predictability from their workers. They want

to be able to control their employees. With so much of the day spent at work and commuting,

the only way people can get everything done everyday is to rely on time saving methods.

With increasing productivity and development comes an increasingly rationalized system.

Regardless of who benefits or to what extent, the universal result is homogenization.

Rationalized systems have a pronounced tendency to squash individual tastes, niche markets,

small-scale enterprise and personalized customer service. Differences are leveled, wrinkles

smoothed, knots cut off — convenience at the expense of character. An overwhelming

sameness develops, along with a decrease in responsiveness. The system that seeks to mimic

a machine becomes a machine, incapable of making exceptions or taking risks. I believe that

the greatest loss is that most people know of no other society than the rationalized society and

therefore cannot even hope to deviate from it. For good or for bad, our social destiny is to

live in such prepackaged settings.