Coca-Cola is little more than sugar, some flavoring, and lots of (carbonated) water. It is largely indistinguishable from innumerable other brands of cola, yet people around the world seem to think that Coca-Cola is something and they are eager to ask for it by name and even to pay a premium for it.
GEORGE RITZER, The Globalization of Nothing
The system is run by the few with the few as the main beneficiaries. Most of the people in the world have no say in these systems and are either not helped or are adversely affected by them.
GEORGE RITZER, Globalization: A Basic Text
I tend to be a loner – I think a lot of social theorists are like that. On one level, the majority of the most important people to me are people who I have imaginary conversations with in the deep of the night: I’m often in conversation with Max Weber or Karl Marx or someone like that. Those are the people I’m closest to and that have had the most influence on me!
GEORGE RITZER, "My Social Science Career: Interview with George Ritzer," Feb. 8, 2012
What defines Web 2.0 is the fact that the material on it is generated by the users (consumers) rather than the producers of the system. Thus, those who operate on Web 2.0 can be called prosumers because they simultaneously produce what they consume such as the interaction on Facebook and the entries on Wikipedia.
GEORGE RITZER, Globalization: A Basic Text
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