Time is Money

George Ritzer’s argument in “The McDonaldization of Society” can be summed up in one of his own sentences, “Speed, convenience, and standardization have replaced the flair of design and creation in cooking, the comfort of relationships in serving and the variety available in choice.” Wow, what a claim! He goes on to explain that fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s thrive because of the simple fact that it is easier to buy food from businesses that ensure efficiency than waste more time by preparing it yourself. He also asserts that consumers want predictability. For example, a ‘Big Mac’ will be the same at any location around the globe, so one can find familiarity almost anywhere that there is civilization. Ritzer makes a compelling argument as well by stating that “McDonald’s expends far more effort telling us how many billions of hamburgers it has sold than it does in telling us about the quality of those burgers.” After all, he points out; it is called “the ‘Big Mac’…not the ‘Good Mac.’” He sees this trend as irrational because we are moving toward a society of expectedness and certainty when, in reality, it is only an illusion of assuredness.

I tend to agree with Ritzer’s point of view because in the present day the skill and knowledge of cooking are fast being lost or traded in for simpler alternatives like fast-food. This is a travesty to cultures that take pride in generations of perfected family recipes and quality time spent around the dinner table. However, I also see that convenience can be appealing in Americans’ increasingly busy lives. Most of us know what it’s like to not have time for dinner and grab something to eat on-the-go. We count on that option always being there when we need it, but the problem comes when people frequently substitute fast-food for homemade meals. Unfortunately, this option is sometimes difficult to ignore when prices are so low and budgets are tight. Is it harmful to society for fast-food to play such a large role in our lives? Why do people sacrifice quality for convenience?