I've been to several countries outside the US and the few McDonalds I went to were all clean and well run. In general, customer service is clearly superior in foreign countries when compared to how it is here in the US.
I know that's anecdotal, but for me, that, along with many other easily identifiable things that have clearly gone down the crapper here means that if someone doesn't think this country is in decline, they're not paying attention.