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This isn't a feudal country and a single magnate leaving will barely affect the economy. What affected the Rust Belt, and is causing problems nationally, is tha

This isn't a feudal country and a single magnate leaving will barely affect the economy. What affected the Rust Belt, and is causing problems nationally, is that ultrawealthy people like Jeff Bezos are manipulating the government to change the laws in ways that allow him more concentration of wealth and power at the expense of the middle class. The lack of a middle class is what causes an economy to go down, and that is why the Rust Belt is suffering economically. People like Bezos, the Waltons, the Kochs are causing harm to the economy, they're not propping it up in any sense.

WalterBright 2y ago
The Rust Belt long predated Amazon. How is Bezos extracting money from the middle class?
- arrosenberg 2y ago
  I refuse to believe the Rust Belt existed before 1995. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    > The Rust Belt experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt
    - arrosenberg 2y ago
      And? Amazon is still an avatar for the neoliberalism that killed the Rust Belt. They didn't start the fire, they just pour gas on it every day.
      - danaris 2y ago
        This is called "moving the goalposts", and however good your underlying point about Amazon's perfidy might be, it does nothing but make you look like you're wrong and you know it. You were wrong about the Rust Belt, and it's OK to admit that and move on.
        arrosenberg 2y ago
        Seems more likely you don’t process sarcasm well.
        danaris 2y ago
        "Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target, lest it be mistaken for, and contribute to, that which it intends to criticize." To put it another way: From Poe's Law[0], we know that no matter how outlandish a position you take sarcastically in a forum like this, there's nearly guaranteed to be people who will be taking such a position in full sincerity. If you don't clearly indicate in some way that you're being sarcastic, you're going to be mistaken for the real asshole, because your tone of voice does not come across in plain text. Next time, just put a /s and save everyone the trouble, hmm? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law
        arrosenberg 2y ago
        No, I don't think I will. If you missed it, that's a great sieve for knowing what kind of person I am responding to. If you can't pick up on a joke, it's not going to be a fun conversation anyways. > If you don't clearly indicate in some way that you're being sarcastic, you're going to be mistaken for the real asshole, because your tone of voice does not come across in plain text. That's the sign of goooood sarcasm. Most people don't take internet forums as seriously as you seem to.
  - danaris 2y ago
    ....You might want to look it up before making such extraordinary claims of your own. It's called the "Rust Belt" because it's where we had booming local manufacturing (the iron) in the postwar years that gradually declined over the course of the Cold War (turning to rust). Hell, by 1995, some parts of the Rust Belt were already starting to recover, though others remain hollowed out to this day.

WalterBright 2y ago

The Rust Belt long predated Amazon. How is Bezos extracting money from the middle class?

arrosenberg 2y ago
I refuse to believe the Rust Belt existed before 1995. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  > The Rust Belt experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt
  - arrosenberg 2y ago
    And? Amazon is still an avatar for the neoliberalism that killed the Rust Belt. They didn't start the fire, they just pour gas on it every day.
    - danaris 2y ago
      This is called "moving the goalposts", and however good your underlying point about Amazon's perfidy might be, it does nothing but make you look like you're wrong and you know it. You were wrong about the Rust Belt, and it's OK to admit that and move on.
      - arrosenberg 2y ago
        Seems more likely you don’t process sarcasm well.
        danaris 2y ago
        "Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target, lest it be mistaken for, and contribute to, that which it intends to criticize." To put it another way: From Poe's Law[0], we know that no matter how outlandish a position you take sarcastically in a forum like this, there's nearly guaranteed to be people who will be taking such a position in full sincerity. If you don't clearly indicate in some way that you're being sarcastic, you're going to be mistaken for the real asshole, because your tone of voice does not come across in plain text. Next time, just put a /s and save everyone the trouble, hmm? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law
        arrosenberg 2y ago
        No, I don't think I will. If you missed it, that's a great sieve for knowing what kind of person I am responding to. If you can't pick up on a joke, it's not going to be a fun conversation anyways. > If you don't clearly indicate in some way that you're being sarcastic, you're going to be mistaken for the real asshole, because your tone of voice does not come across in plain text. That's the sign of goooood sarcasm. Most people don't take internet forums as seriously as you seem to.
- danaris 2y ago
  ....You might want to look it up before making such extraordinary claims of your own. It's called the "Rust Belt" because it's where we had booming local manufacturing (the iron) in the postwar years that gradually declined over the course of the Cold War (turning to rust). Hell, by 1995, some parts of the Rust Belt were already starting to recover, though others remain hollowed out to this day.