America’s Social Devolution and the Fast-Paced Collapse of Human Connection

Hey, it’s Earnest Mann. In this episode, I’m laying out what I believe to be a disturbing truth about modern America — we've become a socially deconstructed, fast-paced, and corporately exploited society. I compare the gentler era of 1870 to 1910 with today’s Orwellian chaos, where corporate greed, hyper-productivity, and the death of meaningful social interaction dominate.

The Shortening of Attention Spans and the Death of Coherence

I use the bizarre evolution of TV advertising as a metaphor. In the 1970s, ads had room to breathe — 30 to 45 seconds long, often clever, funny, and coherent. Now? You’re lucky to get an 8-second ad, with many crammed into just 3 to 6 seconds. What does that say about us? It says we’ve become consumers with the attention span of meth-fueled canaries — sped up by stress, overstimulation, and a bloated population trying to keep up with itself.

Corporate Restaurants and the Human Cost of Profit

Let’s talk about Red Robin — but really, this is about every corporate restaurant in America. Sit at the bar. Observe. You’ll see people stretched thin, trying to do the job of three others, constantly surveilled, and stuck in a system that’s more about maximizing profits than feeding people. The forced birthday clapping, the frantic pace, the loss of connection — it all points to a bigger problem. These businesses are structured in a way that burns out their workers while killing the very thing people go out for: a peaceful, human experience.

Brainwashed Loyalty to Systems That Don’t Care

And here’s the kicker — so many employees, even while being overworked and underappreciated, will defend the company because of "benefits" or “decent pay.” But let’s be honest — that’s only true if you’re willing to be three people for the price of one. My advice? Slow the hell down, because the corporation doesn’t care about you. Never forget that.

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© 2020 - 26 The Earnest Mann Show

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you for being here. I have no idea how

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many of you have considered this, but if

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you set aside the obvious incredible

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advances in technology, I would argue

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that socially speaking, America has

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dramatically socially devolved from the

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comparatively wonderful gentile society

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that lasted for roughly 40 years from

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dystopian and [ __ ] Orwellian a

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nightmare of current America.

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If you're a young person and don't have

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much perspective on this simply because

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you weren't there, you didn't exist,

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this is something that YouTube can

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actually help you with.

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you should have quite a few videos to

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choose from. So, pick one or maybe even

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watch more than one and I guarantee you

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you'll find something curious. Besides

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some of them being very funny and

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entertaining, it's the issue in their

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length. They were typically a minimum of

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about 15 seconds long and very often at

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least 30 or 45 seconds, which is about

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the reasonable amount of time necessary

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to deliver a reasonably catchy, funny,

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and/or coherent ad. Now, compare the ads

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that pop up when you're watching YouTube

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content currently. I refuse to pay their

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extortion fee to be ad aggravation free.

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YouTube used to be adree. The average ad

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time length I came up with was about 8

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seconds and it's damn unlikely when

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you'll find one around 12 seconds. It's

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much more common to see product ads of

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only 3 to 6 seconds. apparently created

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for people with the attention span of a

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canary that just consumed half a pound

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of methamphetamine.

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So, what the hell is going on here? You

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might intelligently ask. Well, it just

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so happens you're in luck. You're going

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to get an intelligent answer. Well, I

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don't mean to sound presumptuous. Let's

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just say you'll get my answer. then you

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can decide just how [ __ ] intelligent

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it is.

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There are two primary reasons for this.

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And I'm not going to go into long

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scientifically based explanations. I'm

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simply going to tell you what I have

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found to be true.

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Now, very briefly before I go into those

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explanations. If you're enjoying this

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episode, please do subscribe and hit

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that notification bell so you won't miss

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an episode. And with the more

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subscriptions I get, the more people

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will get to experience a very different

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perspective on subjects such as this.

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First, population.

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Now, I know that what I'm about to say

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concerning population is a very gross

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oversimplification

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because I could talk about it for hours

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alone. So, if you have any questions,

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please feel free to reach out to me. So,

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bearing that in mind, I'll just say

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this.

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Generally speaking, when a population

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exceeds a certain number, that

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population tends to speed up. And this

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is due to the stress and aggravation

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that comes with larger populations.

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People simply become far more agitated.

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So, because of the additional stress,

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aggravation, and agitation,

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people often become much more

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disconnected and incoherent.

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which is a pleasant way of saying they

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collectively have a much greater

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probability of acting [ __ ] crazy.

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Secondly, totally compulsive and

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religiously devoted consumers who

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apparently have completely lost the

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ability to recognize cheap marketing

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manipulation

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and be pissed off by it. Yet, if they

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became aware by paying attention, that

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would in fact go a very long way of

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getting rid of the problem itself.

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Think of it. When's the last time you

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sat down at a restaurant and had a good

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relaxing meal with pleasant music, low

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dim lights, and weight staff or

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bartender you had a bit of pleasant

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conversation with?

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Matter of fact, when's the last time you

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were able to relax and take your time

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doing just about any [ __ ] thing?

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With most restaurants in America today,

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unless you're rich, of course, it's

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impossible

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because of employees moving at a frantic

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pace and each employee is forced to do

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the work of three people. because the

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corporation is monitoring them from

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every angle, making certain they squeeze

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the fullest amount of production and

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profit out of them.

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The hyper corporate, hyperp

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profofit-driven Red Robin restaurant

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chain is a perfect example. Try this

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experiment yourself.

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Next time you go into a Red Robin

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restaurant, don't get sucked into the

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TV, which like just about any other

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corporate restaurant chains will almost

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always be on a sports channel because

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apparently that is the only thing on TV

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that anyone could or should be

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interested in.

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Don't sit at a table. Sit at the bar.

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from a really good position so you can

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see everything going on around you.

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If you do this, lunchtime might be a

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really good time. Notice how quickly not

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just the people on the floor have to

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move, but particularly the person behind

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the bar who I've witnessed many times

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obviously stressed because they're at

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the bar doing the work of two or three

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people, which at least to me is very

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unpleasant to watch and kills my

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appetite because I like pleasant human

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interaction with my server.

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not a totally stressed out production

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unit absolutely frightened to [ __ ]

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death that they'll get [ __ ] canned fired

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because they're not working fast or hard

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enough. And on top of that, just to make

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certain you get a good dose of

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indigestion for whatever food you

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ordered, it's that idiotic

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companymandated

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group employee clapping for a birthday.

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Incredibly loud, incredibly juvenile,

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and definitely sickeningly corporate.

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When I was 20 years old, one of the

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things I had instilled in me was

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selfrespect. And if some kind of

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restaurant business expected me to do

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something that [ __ ] idiotic and

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degrading, I would have told them to go

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[ __ ] themselves and walked out the door.

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But sadly, many of these people truly

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have no other choice. I totally

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understand that. But I also understand

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this is what corporate capitalism does

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every time, all the time. And I believe

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it's truly [ __ ] disgusting. And they

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wonder why so many restaurants have

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closed their doors. They'll blame

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anything, inflation, the economy, or

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high prices. And I'm not saying those

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aren't factors, but they completely omit

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that many people go out to eat because

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they actually desire a human connection,

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which you cannot get from an overworked

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corporate wage slave. And just to finish

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this up, you know what the saddest and

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disturbing part of this is?

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Many times the people who work these

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jobs are so utterly, totally, and

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completely loyal and brainwashed to the

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company that even with these totally,

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objectively true criticisms I'm making,

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they will still double down, defending

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the company, stating they have decent

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benefits and decent pay. To which I

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respond, "Yeah, sure you do. just as

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long as you're willing to do the amount

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of work of three [ __ ] people.

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My advice, slow the hell down. And

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remember this, never give a damn about

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the corporation because ultimately the

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corporation doesn't give a damn about

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you.

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Until next time, this is Ernest and

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that's all I've got for today.