This article blows it way out of proportion. I had no idea that this even existed, and if it does as the article says, what a new low America has reached - finding culture and community at fast food grease joints.
Community and culture requires friendship and comradery, something the poor hold in droves and the rich spend their entire lives trying to find. It really must be lonely at the top.
This is a long lunch, nominally from 11:30 to 3, but sometimes they stay into the late afternoon. Apparently the turnout is typically 10-15 people.
Now, the Black Bear Diner is not a fancy kind of place where you might expect to find "culture", but maybe community?
I haven't been to one of these events, so I can't speak from personal experience. But I can tell from the ham operators who talk about these Wednesday Luncheons that they look forward to meeting up with their radio buddies in person, and they really enjoy the conversations and camaraderie there.
Is that a new low?
If this revolts you on a deep level, then you could try putting some of that energy towards building the community places not owned by mega corporations that those people are lacking.
And an article that could have very well been sponsored by said "community builder" is not proof of being such.
Anecdotes are not validation of a pattern.
And if that's too slow for you, there's always the Pork Store Cafe on Haight Street in San Francisco, but they're too busy serving hoards of self destructive people to let them hang out for hours after poisoning themselves.
If anything hanging out at McDonald's is a positive development compared to hanging out at the bar
And "slowly killing people" is vastly over-dramatizing McDonald's effect on the vast majority of its customers. It's actually healthier than many similar options.