Chicken Nuggets and City Brains: The Emergence of McDonaldization in American Society

Abstract

George Rtizer’s theory of McDonaldization and Steven Johnson’s Emergence theory are both prevalent in today’s society. Whereas McDonaldization pins down the aspects of efficient, calculated, predictable, controlled systems and warns of the dangers of the prevalence of such a system, the theory of Emergence accepts any system of development as an aspect of our continuing evolution. The dimensions of McDonaldization are not new regardless of their present intensity. We have thrived on these principles and will most likely continue to do so, however under different means. We are in need of a newly developed system as our McDonaldization is becoming detrimental to our health in many ways, physically and mentally. Thus, we will, naturally, as we always have, build upon our current system and improve it to fit our needs. McDonaldization will evolve as we do and the next system vital to our continued development will emerge.

Chicken Nuggets and City Brains:

The Emergence of McDonaldization and a Developing Transformation in American Society

            In 1955, McDonald’s was born and with it the seeds of dehumanization… or at least that is what some would argue. Sociologist George Ritzer, following in the footsteps of Max Weber’s studies on capitalism and its effects on society and culture, analyzes the sociological and cultural phenomenon known as McDonaldization, its properties, and how it is potentially the root cause of an increasingly dehumanized world. In contrast, Steven Johnson, author and cultural critic, has a more positive sociological theory, known as Emergence, which argues an intrinsic connection between individual minds has formed a global brain that helps societies and cultures develop, evolve, and create new systems of organization as needed, without any one entity being in full control. Both theories are very well developed and supported, introducing intriguing concepts that encourage further speculation and examination, and both are indeed prevalent in today’s society. It is Johnson’s theory of Emergence, however, that I find to be more revolutionary in that it suggests a greater, conscious intelligence is pooled from individual intelligence, connecting us in ways we are not even aware of on an individual level, and perhaps laying the foundation for a theory that suggests we are part of one, cohesive being experiencing itself subjectively in various forms. That being said, McDonaldization can be viewed as a system that emerged when the conditions were right, as we needed it. Now that we are beginning to evolve, it is time for another system to emerge, improving upon the last, much like the theory of evolution itself.

            McDonaldization, as Ritzer explains, has four dimensions: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Efficiency is “the optimum method for getting from one point to another” (Ritzer, 2001, p. 14). Man as a species has always been concerned with levels of efficiency, so this aspect of McDonaldization is not new to our systems of development. We have used methods of efficiency to survive and, further, thrive. Let’s think back to our ancestors so many centuries ago, when we were hunters and gatherers. Through trial and error, the hunters discovered that it was much more efficient to craft a point at the end of a stick rather than swing a twig around. Flailing bits of broken wood might irritate one’s prey, wound it perhaps, poke an eye out maybe (that of man or beast? Either or), but it would take a great deal of effort to beat it to death and that time could be better spent doing other things"like becoming the Michelangelo of cave painting in Lascaux. (Hey, Mikey! He likes it!) Pointed sticks worked well enough but putting a carved stone tip on the end worked even better. Thus began the continuous evolution of tools, making our lives of suffering a little less so. Fast forward a bit to the crux of human civilization in Mesopotamia. Here, we see the emergence of city systems with large populations. In order to support such numbers, agriculture was developed and provided a more efficient system of land and animal cultivation to better cater to the needs of a growing population. Today, McDonaldization has provided the same means on a much larger scale. With the development of fast food, we are able to feed more people in less time, supporting our surplus population. The drawback to systems that have efficiency as top priority is lack of quality. In one’s haste to get from one point to another (i.e. hungry to fed), quality takes a back seat since it requires too much time and too many resources. Imagine if McDonald’s actually sold completely customizable, gourmet burgers… it wouldn’t be fast and it certainly wouldn’t be inexpensive (“cheap” actually is the better term, in this case). This brings us to the next dimension of McDonaldization.

“Calculability emphasizes the quantitative aspects of products sold (portion size, cost) and services offered (the time it takes to get the product). In McDonaldized systems, quantity has become equivalent to quality; a lot of something, or the quick delivery of it, means it must be good” (p. 14). This is the idea of “more is better.” The general level of quality of goods in McDonaldized systems is mediocre at best. We know exactly what to expect when we visit any fast food joint"cheap food, fast service. We’re not expecting gourmet and we’re certainly not expecting (or wanting) any of the employees to get creative with our meals. McDonaldized systems are predictable, safe.

Ritzer (2001) defines predictability as “the assurance that products and services will be the same over time and in all locales” (p. 15). Humans like things to be predictable. Although one of our more admirable qualities is the ability to adapt to our environment, we don’t like to. With predictability so prevalent in today’s society, we are not challenging our creativity. Thus, our imagination runs the risk of being severely dampened and we become “disenchanted” with the world around us and how we experience it. I think many people have indeed become disenchanted with their own existence and are unable to find the beauty and excitement in the world. To combat predictability, one must seek out their own adventures, no matter how small, and continue to challenge oneself to keep up a healthy level of creativity. We can’t blame corporations for our own self-neglect, no matter how much control we allow them to have over us and our actions.

Control is the final dimension of McDonaldization and it is the factor that allows the others to operate so well. A greater control of a system’s processes and all the elements within those processes, such as material, equipment, facilities, and workers, allows for such high levels of efficiency. Control is not so foreign a concept, either. Our control over our environment, tools, and even other people has certainly been vital to the development of our species. If we lacked the ability to control such things, we would’ve died out long ago. Our ancestor friend would’ve tried (and failed horribly) to take on a mammoth with naught but a twig.

The dimensions of McDonaldization are actually quite healthy and prevalent throughout the history of man. What has made this system so undesirable today, however, is that we are in need of something else. We are in need of the next more efficient system, the next evolutionary step. We’ve pushed these four factors to their limit and, by so doing, have pushed ourselves to our limit as well. We want more than mediocre. We need more than mediocre. We, as a species, are ready for our next creative challenge. McDonaldization emerged at a time when we needed it"when it was the best system to get things done. Therefore, it is not the antithesis of the Emergence theory but a system that emerged.

As the McDonaldization of society spreads across the globe, infiltrating cultures previously untouched by Western ideals, a strange stew has begun brewing, mixing local culture with global, transforming into something different and altering the perception of the global brain, therefore triggering another level of global consciousness, global intelligence. I like to think of it in terms of cells in an organism. As the cells create and regenerate, the organism heals, sustains, and eventually, as the cells adapt, the organism evolves. If we zoom out and look at how we operate, how we cultivate, how we evolve, it’s not such a far-fetched idea that we might be as cells are"organisms coexisting individually to perpetuate the existence of something greater. McDonaldization was an important step in our evolutionary process, but now it’s time to build on what we’ve created so that the new system may cater to our new adaptations. It’s hard to see the forest through the trees, but with just a little imagination and creativity, anything is possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Johnson, Steven. (2001). Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software. New York, NY: Scribner.

Ritzer, George. (2011). The McDonaldization of Society (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.