Précis: After communism collapsed in East Germany, McDonald's was the first building to go up in Plauen, Germany. An example of how fast McDonald's and many other fast food chains have grown on a global scale. This American way of life has now spread thanks to these chains, a life style which is very unhealthy mostly attributed to cars and fast food. With McDonald's rapid globalization and realization of harm to communities and cultures many have protested and even demolished McDonald's buildings. Many people who spoke out against McDonald's publicly either apologized after threatened to be taken to court or they accepted the consequences and usually lost the case. Not for Dave Morris and Helen Steel who had an ongoing trial for over two and a half years after they printed leaflets in London slamming the McDonald's corporation. Even through this, McDonald's globalization has made American culture a part of many countries.
Gems: "Today 44 million American adults are obese. An additional 6 million are 'super-obese'; they weigh about a hundred pounds more than they should. No other nation in history has gotten so fat so fast" (240)
"If we eat McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years,' Fujita once promised his countrymen, 'we will become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde" (231)
Thoughts and Questions: With a globalization of American corporations there will be an American invasion onto domestic cultures of the given area. Mixing of cultures can often be a good thing, I like to think that NYC is such an amazing place currently because of that, but this generic building producing unhealthy food, promoting poor working conditions and deskilling the workforce is far from a good thing. So when learning about Jose Bove’s actions it warmed my heart a bit, not so much the demolishing as much as the public activism afterwords, because when it comes down to it, the change comes through the education.
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