http://www.writerq.com/mobile/jsclark5409/ Latest updates from Joshua Clark http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/766/social-inequality-of-the-fast-food-industry/
The Fast food industry has a giant impact in our society. Millions of people all over the world go to a fast food restaurant at least once a week. The people who work in these restaurants, barely make minimum wage, where workers cannot survive on their own. By using the social conflict theory, it can show the inequality between the poor (workers) and the rich (CEO’s).
According to Karl Marx, there are two kinds of people in the workforce, which are the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie are the rich, or in the fast food industry the CEO’s. The Proletariat are the poor, or in the fast food industry the regular workers. What the social conflict theorist will look at is the social inequalities between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The CEO’s has set rules, in which everyone must obey them, in order to keep their job. In the fast food industry, there is no freedom, because the workers are not in charge, and they are not paid to think.
One way, that there is a distance between the rich and the poor is the fact that there is “Alienation from the product of one’s labor.” There is no passion in the work that these people are putting in. In America, we are taught to be successful, and in our society we look down on people who have jobs in fast food restaurants. Society thinks of them as lazy and worthless people. Our society believes that if you are rich, then you are successful, but if you are poor then you are uneducated and ignorant. Horovitz (2014.)
Another big factor in the social inequalities, between the rich and the poor, is the “Alienation from the process of one’s labor.” In the fast food industry, there is no sense of freedom. There are charts and trainings that tell you what to do, and what to say. If you don’t abide by those rules, then you will be fired. It really is a dictatorship, because you have to conform, where the same uniform and do everything the exact way it is supposed to be done. What we look for in a restaurant is uniformity, because if we are in Tennessee or in New York, a Big Mac should taste like a Big Mac. Schlosser (2001.)

Then to continue the distance between the poor and rich, there is “no self-identity.” People are not proud of their jobs, and there is just not any special connection to their job. They won’t know who they are, and what their purpose of life is going to be. This is very important in life, and the fast food industry has made people to believe all that matters is their job, and to do it correctly. Most of those owners worry about themselves, and do not care about workers as much as him/her. Kohn (1976)
To study how the fast food industry has impacted society, the best way is to use the social conflict theory. Thanks to Karl Marx, there are two types of people in the workforce, which are the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. There are many misconceptions of the workers in fast food restaurants, such as unintelligent or lazy. In our society, we are always excepting fast food to be the same everywhere. It is hard to survive on the amount of money, that the owner gives you. Plus, the owner makes all of this money, but the workers only get a small portion of it. There is no freedom in the industry, so you have to obey the owner’s rules or have the risk of losing one’s job. Also, the workers cannot help what the working conditions are like. In these jobs, there is a lack of self- identity among the people. All in all, hopefully things can get better for everyone in the workforce, but there will always be the rich and the poor. Our job is to close the gap between the two.

Kohn L. Melvin. 1976. National Institute of Mental Health; Occupational Structural and Alienation

Schlosser, Eric. 2001.Fast Food Nation;The dark side of the all American meal

Horowitz, Bruce. September 22, 2014. USA Today; Income Gap:
FineDining up; Fast Food down]]> http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/766/social-inequality-of-the-fast-food-industry/ Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:46:45 +0000 Joshua Clark