Sociology - Mcdonaldization

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Our Fast Food Society When first hearing or seeing the term McDonaldization a certain name pops to mind, McDonald. Ronald McdDonald is known around the world for his tasty, quick, and fast food. McDonalization is a termed developed from George Ritzer describing how our society has adopted a culture of the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. With Mcdonalization as being a way of life, it affects almost everything we do, including the food industry but also education, the professional field, and healthcare. According to Ritzer, our society is becoming fast pace, thus the need for efficiency, calculability, predictability, and uniformity. This has become the new way of thinking because there is no time for being traditional. The first principle, efficiency, is the optimum method of completing a task. Fast food is efficient for today’s society. Going to McDonalds for dinner is much more easier than making a filling meal for a family or for yourself. It is easy to stop by a small window and order from a limited list which you know will taste the same every time and will satisfy your appetite. It is quick and the minimum expenditure of effort. The second term, calculability, focuses on the quantity rather than quality. An example is the breakfast sandwich, this relates to the term “quicker is better.” The breakfast sandwich is a combination of all breakfast food in between two biscuits; it is simpler and quicker unlike a breakfast with all the basic portions set out. This is emphasized on how the food-industry places a great deal of emphasis on things that can be calculated, counted and quantified. The third term, predictability, refers to the attempt to structure our environment so that people know what to expect. A Big Mac is going to be the same no matter where you are in the world. However, this is not only in the food industry but in a shopping mall and

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