Summary Of Mcdonaldization Of Society

In the article “McDonaldization of Society” the author, George Ritzer, discusses Rationalization which is a concept which was coined by the German sociologist Max Webber in the 19th century. Rationalization has 5 distinct dimensions which are efficiency, control, dehumanization, quantity over quality, and predictability.

Moreover, Ritzer claims that society has become so focused on being efficient which means finding the easiest and fastest way to achieve a goal, an example of that dimension provided by the author is the nazi concentration camps which were built to exterminate Jewish people. Also, Ritzer claims that another characteristic of society nowadays is predictability. People in a rational system tend to frown on surprise and have a preference for routine and consistency.
Nowadays people are able to pick the gender of their children because of the major improvements in the field of genetic engineering. Another argument the author makes is that a rational system values quantity over quality. This dimension can be seen in universities when it comes to the cumulative gpa or the polls students are given to rate their professors. The final dimension of the rational system is dehumanization, humans are constantly being replace by machines because of the fact that they are not predictable.

Furthermore, I believe that Ritzers argument that the world is becoming Mcdonaldized is correct. It is evident in many ways that his argument is correct, for instance, the company Toyota focuses on the quantity of cars it produces which makes them more money unlike the company Rolls Royce which produces less cars. Another example that proves Ritzers argument is correct is that nowadays ordering products online is more convenient than going to the store because the products take less time to arrive and people have different options for