The McDonaldization of Society

Ever since I was a young child I have felt the impact of a McDonalized society on my life. I saw this start in school when I was 4 years old and I have watched it continue in to my current everyday life. I believe that the process of McDonaldization began for me when I was enrolled in private school when I was little. It was here that I was trained to do assignments quickly, paint and draw in the most efficient ways, and where I was taught time management skills that would govern the way I lived my life for years to come. I see this process perpetuating in to my future due to the type of career that I am pursuing and also due to the fact that it is strongly embedded in my mind as the "correct" way to carry out my life.

At first glance the idea behind Mcdonaldization does not seem like a harmful or "bad" way to live; everything in one's day is carried out efficiently and productively. But, with a deeper look in to the effects of this process we can see how it dehumanizes all that participate in it. George Ritzer states, "McDonaldization implies a search for maximum efficiency in increasingly numerous and diverse social settings." (Ritzer 35) which illustrates to the reader how the process actually is meant to function. This quote displays how the process of Mcdonaldization is applied to almost every setting that one can imagine and is used to produce maximum efficiency. While this process is harmful to many who participate in it due to the fact that it dehumanizes them, I also see many benefits to using it.

As stated in the text there are many benefits to the McDonaldized system of life. One can spend less time doing things such as cooking when a "fast-food" meal is available for them to purchase at reasonably quick speeds. When a person is offered tools to make their life more efficient, they feel as if they are in control of their actions and therefore "better off". For example, when I have a research paper to write and I need to look up articles, I feel extremely more efficient when I can do so online instead of having to go to the library to physically look things up. This not only makes me feel more efficient, but subsequently more productive, and therefore better about myself. This process is harmful however, because it would be more intellectually rewarding for me to look up the articles and feel as if I had truly "found" them, expanding my abilities to research and learn.
I feel that my education is what has been affected the most by McDonaldization, and one of the key factors perpetuating this has been the government. When I transferred from private school to the local public school in the 11th grade I was saddened to see an environment which I deemed "dronish" and unstimulating. Each day at public school was the same as the last, following a succinct schedule that lasted from 7:25 am to 1:45 pm. There was never change, and there was rarely something that would make the day different from the last. If I, or someone else, asked if we could do something differently were simply given a response along the lines of "No, because we do not have funding" or "No, it is not the way the state mandates us to teach the subject matter." I found the "state" controlling my day to day life at school, saying what they thought was the most efficient and productive way to learn.

In an article by David Hartley, regarding the McDonaldization of higher education by the government, he states: "It operationalises Ritzer's concept of 'McDonaldization', and the latters dimensions of efficiency, calculability, and control…" (Hartley 409). This quote displays to the reader how the government is using higher education, such as colleges and universities, and turning them in to factories that produce the most McDonaldized members of society possible. I see this in my own life as well as in the lives of my friends who attend even larger public universities.

Emmanuel College, in the grand scheme of McDonalization, is not terribly submersed in the need to produce efficient drones from its graduating classes. I feel that here, more than other schools I have been to, there is more of an individual attention given to the students. However, it may be that I am so submersed in the process that I cannot identify its own presence at Emmanuel, which I am also trying to be aware of as a possibility. One characteristic of Emmanuel that makes me feel as if it is not as McDonaldized as other institutions is the course requirements for graduation. If Emmanuel were solely occupied with trying to mass produce English, Science, and Sociology majors then they would not bother having the students take classes from other disciplines. They would be solely concerned with the student concentrating in one field to quickly obtain all of the possible knowledge in order to graduate with a uniform understanding of their field only. This is not the case due to the strong emphasis on a liberal arts education at the college.

I see myself perpetuating the system of McDonaldization simply due to the fact that I am going to law school to become a lawyer. While I will actively try not to fall under the power of McDonaldization, I find that it would be extremely difficult to resist its trap due to the fact that law school is a very strict and uniform type of education. Each law school in the country, whether it is Yale or Clown University, is mandated by the American Bar Association to teach the same curriculum to its students. This is the epitome of McDonaldization, but I accept it freely in exchange for my life's dream of becoming a Lawyer.

While I understand the negative aspects to McDonaldization I also understand its necessity in many American's lives. I will try to enter the next few years of my education with the knowledge of what its effects are, and try my best to avoid them. But, I will do this knowing that in the end it may be a futile effort to try and exclude myself totally from this system. While McDonaldization has captured almost every facet of society, all I can do it rely on what I have learned in "The McDonaldization of Society" to guide my own choices and opinions, but an ultimate escape from the system may never be obtainable.

WORKS CITED

Hartley, David. "The McDonaldization of Higher Education: Food for Thought?" Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 21, No. 4. (Dec., 1995), pp. 409-423.
Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society. Pine Forge Press. Thousand Oaks, California. 1996.