anandamide wrote:
Right on. The idea that we can rise above all the mire of the fast food market by not going to McD's is the same kind of pious thinking that allows some people to believe we can act to separate ourselves from an inherently racist society, or a consumer oriented society. The fact is we are all part of the system and cannot really transcend such problems because they are systemic. To believe that one individual can rise above the rest through individual consumer choices is so liberal. We're better off to acknowledge that we are all part of the system and act to mitigate the harms rather than condemn others for their choices while deluding ourselves that we are somehow morally superior to others who remain ignorant of the consequences of the problems. I have seen this so many times where people who think that just because they eat vegan that makes them morally superior to others when in fact if you really look hard at those types they are no better than the rest of us when it comes to how they behave on this planet.
Well that is a great argument and all, but from my point of view, you are missing the point. Even if we acknowledge validity of what you say above, McDonald's is still low quality gutter-trash food for people who do not understand what good food/cooking is.
By rejecting McDonald's, I do not see myself as morally superior. Rather I see myself as having better taste, and as having minimum quality standards for the food I choose to eat, quality standards which McDonald's fails to meet. It is not an issue of ethics/morality for me.
Rejecting McDonald's makes me tastefully superior, not morally superior.
In addition, it makes me healthier -- see the docu-movie "Supersize Me".