In this blog post, we’ll look at how the phenomenon of McDonaldization, the emphasis on efficiency, is undermining humanity and diversity in our society.
McDonaldization refers to the process by which the principles of fast food restaurants like McDonald’s prioritize efficiency, affecting many areas of American society and around the world. When we go to McDonald’s, we expect the same flavors, choose from a set menu, and never have to wait long for our food after ordering. This McDonaldization is standardizing the world in the name of convenience and efficiency, affecting not only the fast food industry but almost every sector of society, including education, labor, healthcare, leisure, politics, and family.
Some specific examples of the positive changes that McDonaldization has brought about include the following Many people have access to a wider range of goods and services than ever before, with fewer time or geographic constraints. For example, being able to withdraw cash from a grocery store or make deposits and withdrawals from a bank in the middle of the night is now possible, something that was previously impossible. It’s also easier for people to get what they want instantly and easily, and the quality of goods and services has become more uniform. As a result of these changes, at least some people are better off than they were before McDonaldization. And with a much wider range of affordable alternatives to expensive, customized goods and services, people are able to buy things they couldn’t afford before. And people who work long hours and don’t have the time to do so are able to access goods and services quickly and efficiently.
This rational system of efficiency, predictability, calculability, and mechanization has brought many benefits to society, but rational systems inevitably lead to irrational outcomes. The negative aspects of McDonaldization can be discussed more systematically with the concept of the “irrationality of rationality”. This means that the rational system of McDonaldization itself is bound to lead to irrational outcomes: the rational system inhibits human creative behavior and the ability to work, which in turn leads to irrational outcomes. For example, a long line of people at the checkout counter at a fast food restaurant, or a long line of cars at the drive-through window. Another example is that fast food restaurants often provide inhumane environments for people to eat or work. The employees responsible for ordering and preparing food feel like they are part of an assembly line. This mundane repetitive work leads to high turnover rates, and employees don’t feel satisfied or secure in their jobs. They can’t utilize all of their skills or be creative. Customers are also dehumanized as they are forced to rush through food like a machine on a constant assembly line.
These criticisms can be extended to all aspects of the McDonaldization of the world. For example, Starbucks, like McDonald’s, is accused of providing a single standard of service and of trying to dominate the global coffee market and culture by monopolizing tastes. McDonaldization has created an opportunity to provide efficient and easy service in an increasingly busy world with a growing population and accelerating technological change. It has made many things possible that were not possible in the past. However, McDonaldization has also led to a loss of quality in rational processes. Franchising has also led to the same products being served the same way everywhere in the world. As a result, regional diversity is diminishing, and the human desire for new and different experiences is becoming increasingly limited, if not completely absent.
So how do we deal with an increasingly McDonaldized world? First of all, we need to focus on quality rather than quantity. Even if you sell bread, if you have a baker talking to customers and explaining the bread to them, you can get away with mechanization and standardization. However, we live in a society where franchising is commonplace. A new takeout shop selling large-sized beverages seems to pop up everywhere, and Taiwanese castella or puppet shops are also common as they catch on. Scale and franchising means more profits, so even if the baker is hands-on and communicative with customers, if these shops take up a significant portion of the market, the McDonaldization forces will notice and try to turn them into a streamlined system that can be franchised. In this fast-moving modern world, it’s hard to avoid efficiency and rationalization. But by being willing to think about and implement alternatives, we can prevent McDonaldization from becoming more extreme. In an irrational McDonaldization society, irrational struggle will allow us to express truly human reason. Therefore, we must continue to pay attention to countering or escaping McDonaldization.
