You were wrong about the Rust Belt, and it's OK to admit that and move on.
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?
> 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.