Moreover, the “McDonald phenomenon” of almost a decade ago baffled observers even today. This occurred in 1992 during the now infamous L.A. Riots. In the midst of total destruction that the city faced at the crushing hands of rioters protesting the not guilty verdict of the four police officers in the Rodney King case, 30 McDonald restaurants within the riot area remained untouched. Everything else was impotent to the fist of destruction. How could this be? Many quickly attributed this to the restaurant’s philanthropist efforts in the affected communities, the success of its public relations initiatives, and even luck. But as I read the McDonalization of society, I now wonder if it were indeed that simple or if there were other factors at play.
Further analysis of these occurrences seem to add some validity to the argument that Ray Kroc’s initiatives have worked their way to the psyche of society.
Today, we determine value in terms of quantitative velocity as opposed to the outdated qualitative originality. For instance, we are willing to replace our relatively new cell phones for newer, overpriced, and supposedly faster ones in spite of the erosion of individuals’ privacy embedded in the convenient technology. Further, we are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the intimacy of face-to-face interaction. Instead, texting is fast, efficient, concise, and emotions are reduced to a few pretentious symbols. We LOL (laughing out loud) for instance without even opening our mouth. Moreover, dieting and exercising have virtually become motionless activities except perhaps in the case of devout athletes and/or empowered youth. We swallow a pill, drink a shake, or wear a belt in some cases, go to sleep, and “boom” we are said to have run the equivalent of a few miles and have lost weight. In addition, who has time for lecture halls, professors, and fellow students when we can get an entire education staring at a computer screen in the comfort of our home while multitasking? The more productive we seem to be, the less time we want to spend doing it. Hence, we make up routines that ensure efficiency, predictability, and to some extent standardization. Sadly enough, we fight for individualism and basic humanity in the workplace; yet, we live highly rationalized lives cleverly contrived as self-actualization and luxury. In other words, we have become nothing more than robots with few remaining human characteristics racing against time. Ronald Takaki was right on point when he said; “The self was place in confinement, its emotions controlled, and its spirits subdued.” Although we will not admit it, we no longer value spontaneity. In fact, we do not want any surprises. We are habitual users who repeatedly migrate toward the same activities over and over. One cannot help but wonder where does agency go when rationalization invades every aspect of our personal lives.
Frederick Taylor has been long gone, yet his gigantic footprints are implanted in the psyche of societal norms. The concept of McDonalization was simply a tool of diffusion. It was a bridge standing tall over culture lag and nostalgia, and it linked us inevitably to the industrial machine. Kroc’s innovations took a relatively macro concept and fit it into the practicality of daily living. As a result, we build ourselves a “scientifically” managed environment founded on Taylor’s “one best way” mantra and Weber’s notion of rationalization.
In conclusion, taking a retroactive look at McDonald’s irrefutable success over the last half-century, the shift in the psychographics of the global society becomes evident. Hence, it is safe to argue that beyond selling Big Macs, happy meals, and building franchises, Ray Kroc was selling something that was, undoubtedly, more powerful than a full stomach. He was selling ideals, which would subsequently give birth to a psychological revolution in the American consciousness. Our adoption of that ideology gave us the touch screen, post modernist status we so thoroughly enjoy today. Further, those ideals were not indigenous to the American society. The world wide application of the McDonalization theory exemplifies their universality. Finally, the only remaining aspect of the diffusion process of this McDonalization ideology is an invention robot that will replace our politicians. They would be efficient, predictable, highly productive, and a whole lot cheaper.
Rapadoo,
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