Rust Belt
Article
Rust Belt is a recurring place in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between October 13, 2022 and July 15, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “played out in many parts of the Northeast and the Rust Belt”; “Maybe this is the same problem as decaying Rust Belt”. It most often appears alongside America, Australia, San Francisco.
Metadata
- Category: Places
- Mention count: 2
- Issue count: 2
- First seen: October 13, 2022
- Last seen: July 15, 2025
Appears In
Related Pages
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- America (2 shared issues)
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- Australia (2 shared issues)
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- San Francisco (2 shared issues)
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- Wikipedia (2 shared issues)
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- 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1 shared issues)
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- 21st Century Salon (1 shared issues)
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- Aboriginal (1 shared issues)
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- Aboriginal Australia (1 shared issues)
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- Aboriginal society (1 shared issues)
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- Aborigine (1 shared issues)
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- Aborigines (1 shared issues)
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- Aborigines of Australia (1 shared issues)
External Links
Source Context
Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.
This is the same pattern that's played out in many parts of the Northeast and the Rust Belt. Old industries shut down, and as the existing money-holders die or move away, the economy sinks over time. Towns don't usually die right after a big manufacturing plant shuts down (unless it's the only major employer or something similar), but a plant shutting down can spell long term doom due to the knock-on effects later.
Is this latter part the problem? The typical immigrant moves to New York and gets a job as an Uber driver for rich people. Maybe it’s worse if you stay on a reservation where everyone else is as poor as you? Maybe this is the same problem as decaying Rust Belt / Appalachian towns, or the post-industrial British heartland. When everyone else in your area is as poor as you, the poverty feeds on itself?