Did McDonald's kill American community?

In 1948, the McDonald brothers reopened their immensely popular roadside restaurant, dramatically altering the format of the previous incarnation of their business. Gone were the parking lot waitresses, the large selection of items from the menus, and generally relaxed pace of serving featured prior. Now the Speedee Service System churned out simple cheeseburgers and fries at a quick, efficient pace. On this day almost sixty years ago, the long march to the decline and death of American society began.

Since the earliest days of civilization, a key component of developed life has been the common eating ground, the cafeteria, the agora, the bar, where members of the community went to indulge in good food, good drink, and perhaps most importantly, good talk. Trade and barter deals, philosophical debate, local gossip, all were discussed over meals at restaurants. Food was served as it was prepared, not rushed or hurried, allowing for the most time to speak and allow bridges to be built. Communities and civilizations have been fostered and built upon the rapport built during dinner.

In 1948, McDonald's changed all that. The high demand for food at a rapid pace induced the McDonald brothers to develop their rapid transit food delivery system, effectively inventing the fast food industry. The need for meals to churned out at rapid pace eliminated any possibility for anything other than shoveling food into your face in order to get out of the way for the guy who wanted your seat. McDonald's created the first schematic within the American psyche of rushing, of doing every task as quickly and efficiently as possible. After all, time is money. You had to be able to eat and finish your lunch in fifteen minutes, because you needed to be back at the office or factory within 5 minutes, because you needed to devote the other seven hours and forty minutes to working. If you spent any more time indulging in a leisurely meal, the guy behind you might finish eating quicker and steal your job and paycheck.

The multiplicative effect carried out through the entire culture, and what resulted were broken homes, parents obsessed with latching onto the brass ring, ever inflating demands from employers, and less time to sit down and talk and forge relationships and grow to understand about our neighbors. At this point in time, Americans trust their neighbors less than any other time previously in American history. When we hardly get the opportunity to speak to them, is this fact really so shocking?