Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Co-Managing Editor
Everywhere in the world you go, a territory needs and will have three things: A city hall, a church, and a McDonalds. Whether you are in the greatest city in the world, a small rural town at the edge of nowhere, or in the forbidden jungles of South America, each of these things are ubiquitous in their presence and effect on a community. You need a city hall to govern and make decisions. A church to practice faith and pray to otherworldly forces. And a McDonalds to enjoy the taste of a fresh, delicious ketchup and mustard-filled hamburger. City halls and Churches are nothing new to the human equation. For the past 1,000 years humans have needed both to conduct themselves and society in an orderly manner. However, the introduction of McDonald’s into the history of human civilization is a relatively new yet equally as impactful revelation.
The First McDonalds was opened in 1940 San Bernardino, California by a pair of young brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. Having endured the full force as well as the hangover of the great depression, the McDonald’s brothers sought to cure the aching bones of American society with a panacea of cheeseburgers, fries, and deliciously cooked meals. Unfortunately for them, food in America was dominated by 50’s style drive-ins famous for wrong orders, outrageous wait times, and highly expensive poorly cooked food. Disgusted with the pervasive nature of these teen fly catchers around the country, the McDonalds brothers constructed their own “speedy system” allowing for affordable, scrumptious, kitchen cooked meals all ready in a matter of 30 seconds. Their restaurant was a hit! Quickly becoming an integral part of the community, raking in boat loads of money and attracting customers and consumers from all over the country. One of these customers would be a 52 year old failing milkshake salesman by the name of Ray Kroc…
Having spent his life jumping around from one idea to the next failing at every endeavor from restaurants to inventions to now milkshake machines, Kroc had almost given up all hope until he saw the bright flashing white letters spelling “McDonald’s” across a red burger stand in the middle of nowhere, U.S.A. He asked for a tour, observing the ins and outs of every part of the restaurant while observing the inordinate levels of success it generated. Instead of admiring their brothers for what they had done, Kroc got an idea. An awful idea. A wonderful, awful idea. He would join McDonalds, and franchise their restaurants out for all of America to enjoy. The only catch, he would cut the brothers out of their money, their legacy, and ultimately even their name as he aspired to build the greatest fast food empire the world had ever seen.
Before long, Kroc was a wolf in a hens house, expanding, franchising, and bringing the franchise to heights it had never seen before. Despite this success, the McDonald’s brothers were content with their little burger stand in the dessert, and desired for Ray to pull back and be happy with all they had accomplished. Still, this was not enough for Ray. They were holding him back, they were holding back genius, they were holding back the progress and advancement of civilization! Through sly manipulation, cunning business tactics, and brazen triangulation of the company against the brothers, Kroc bought them out for only ¾ of a million dollars. Stealing their name, their system, their restaurant, and eventually their business royalties which would be worth upwards of 100 million dollars per year.
Still, despite this deception, McDonald’s was still up and running. In fact, under Kroc’s leadership and tactics it THRIVED. It expanded across the globe, placed a McDonalds in almost every major city in America, and cast the golden arches of the world’s most prolific company into legend. Today, McDonalds has over 40,000 outlets in 100 countries, generates an annual revenue around $130 billion, and feeds over 1% of the world’s population per day. In some places, cultures even consider McDonalds more important than religion with many gathering to meet at a McDonalds instead of a church on Sunday. Politicians, preachers, celebrities, athletes, and many many more have tried, advertised, and promoted McDonalds in almost every single place you can think of. Even the greatest competitive athlete of all time in Michael Jordan has advertised McDonalds for years with McDonalds becoming part of a diet in even the most healthy person’s body. Kroc would die in 1984 with the equivalent of a $4.1 billion net worth today having left an indelible mark on the face of the world.
McDonald’s and “Kroc’s” stories are often idealized as the ultimate American success story. Afterall, what could be more inspirational than the story of a disgruntled 52 year old salesman in mid-life crises suddenly getting a revolutionary idea and bringing the entire world down to its knees? It’s so profound, so intriguing, so…American? And that is the question really isn’t it? What do you define as being an “American story”? Does it involve lying? Does it involve deception? Does it involve one man taking everything too humble brothers have and then cheating them out of everything they own?
In other countries, this story and Kroc’s actions are frowned upon, upon as a cautionary tale not to trust wolves who are out there lurking in the shadows. In America, we do the exact opposite, idolizing him as a hero and thanking him for his “incredible” contributions to society. So, what exactly about a man stealing everything from the people who owned it gets Americans so patriotic and excited to celebrate their nation’s pride? Well, this could go as deep as all the way back to our roots with Europeans crossing the Atlantic and systematically genociding, displacing, and snuffing out Native Americans for their land and resources. It could go back to the 1800’s where a literal entire side of the country defected because they wanted to maintain control over and suck the life blood out of those they viewed as inferior to them in the slaves. It could even go back to WWII where ally forces liberated German concentration camps only to have similar camps of their own back in America trapping and punishing innocent Japanese-Americans.
Stories like these the U.S. likes to forget, but it never seems to forget the stories of valiant deeds done by our predecessors to free us from oppressors. We are told time and time again of the stories of the US earning independence from the British, the US freeing the slaves from the Confederacy, the US defeating Nazi Germany and Axis Japan. The U.S. may spell us, but it is in no way indicative of the true nature of what our country is built on. We like to preach that we are a country built on unity and freedom, when in reality we have done nothing but attack, steal, and betray one another to the most extreme of extents. America likes to have it both ways, glorifying their deeds of heroism while brushing away their acts of atrocity. As with the story of Ray Kroc, AMERICA has spent its entire history stealing what it claims to have won fairly and then taking credit for its accomplishments with not a single fraction of guilt or shame in its heart.
So why? Why does it seem that everything we admire, everything we care about, everything we know to be true has turned out to be only a miniscule part of the story? Why do Americans, why do HUMANS feel the need to lie, and steal, and betray their fellow man when most believe we were put here on this earth to do the exact opposite. Well, once again, it all comes down to a concept introduced in the most critical days of our history. As Mr. Jefferson put it, we all crave, “The Pursuit Of Happiness”. And not just any happiness either, that crisp, clean, idealistic normalized version of happiness we see on TV. A dream. The American Dream. A concept so vehemently purported to the world for the past 300 that it had spread to every part of the world.
The reason for McDonald’s success and expansion isn’t their golden arches. It isn’t their delicious fries, their affordable prices, or even their rapid fire speed. It is that every time you take a bite of that entrancing, almost luminescent McDonalds hamburger, you are tasting the American dream. It may only be for a second, it may only come in the flash of the moment, but it is there, and that is enough to make people come back to experience that dream, to experience that hope over and over again. But in the same big bite that we are experiencing the joy, the freedom, the hope that America has come to symbolize through the story of McDonald’s, we are simultaneously experiencing the greed, envy, and deception of its history and founder.
That begs the question, is a symbol of hope built on lies and fraud still a symbol of hope? How could it be? Its very foundation is corrupted from the start, how could it ever be anything other than what it started as? No good can ever come from a lie. No joy can ever be found from a place of hate. And no hope can ever be taken from a legacy of treachery. Some people believe this. I do not. Because we the citizens do not. Because all the people all around the world who look to America for inspiration do not. Because America itself is a symbol of hope built on lies, and to believe these things would be to give up on that symbol which would mean to give up on America, which would mean to give up on the world, which would ultimately mean to give up on human beings.
And when I take a bite of that delicious hamburger, feel the bread on my hand, the pickles and ketchup crunching in my mouth, and that ever elusive taste of the American dream just passing me by, something tells me that I am not ready to give up on the world quite yet. And neither should you.
Photo courtesy: The Founder/Dimension Films