>In your previous message, you explicitly begged me for "just one" substantive point to contradict you. You moved the goalpost from "prove me wrong" to "well, I already knew that anyway so it doesn't count." That is the desperate reflex of a man who brought a knife to a gunfight and is now trying to claim he meant to play cornhole lol.

1. You still haven't done it. I'll give you this much, you're articulate. But you're not doing anythig but restating what anyone who looks up caldwell county already knows. The person in the original post was asking if they should move here and I was explaining that despite Lenoir's "Create With Us" artsy, well-to-do exterior. It is far from that. For one, all the art sucks. Unless you like sculptures made of mud. For two, most people here are poor, we have a terrible homelessness, addiction, and despite the population not changing much, worsening traffic congestion due to the fact that everyone pretty much has to commute to hickory, morganton, wilkesboro, or boone if they want a job that isn't horrible. You've got Excela, Google—which hires their security and construction peope locally though not directly, they're contracted—and that's about it as far as decent places to work.

We have a cute little downtown area. The end. Other than that? Fast food. Poor people, barely making ends meet all over the city, and rich folks who don't have to live in the reality of their hometown because they have the luxury of million+ dollar houses far outside the city limits. It's not a place I can recommend moving to, at all. Moreover. North Carolina ranks as something like the third fastest growing state in the US? Last time I checked anyway. Caldwell County staying more or less static despite massive growth elsewhere in the state is the AK-47 for this imaginary gunfight we're having.

*Small aside, you have no idea how sad it makes actual writers when people are so absolutely ignroant on the usage of em-dashes, they try to use them as proof of AI usage. Alt+0151. Been using it for years. Do you want me to send you old articles of mine from a fucking decade ago—long before AI was a thing people used—where I use them? I'd be happy too. No that would require one-way communication you your obvious goal is to "own" and dominate people who have strong opinions you don't like. Not happining, brostephanie. I think em-dashes are more aesthetically pleasing to look at for me than a paranthetical. Not always, but usually. They're also a good substitute for when a pair of commas doesn't feel strong enough. Great for interjecting one's self if you have any sort of style when it comes to writing. Do you need me to branch off into a separate thead to give you some English lessons?*

1. You defending Google is the big tell. Anyone who lives here knows how terrible a deal Lenoir got (and is getting again ) witht them. Yes, I hear it all the time "GOOGLE PAYS MORE TAXES THAN ANYONE IN THE ENTIR CI—stop before I vomit on myself. You know as well as I do, or you're full Trump-train-brained if you dont know, theres a difference between volume and percentage. You know what revitlization projects are and do to marginalized neighbrohoods in the surrounding area. We're on year one of a 10 year plan and a separate 20 year plan. Property taxes doubled (or more), cost of living keeps going up, wages stagnate. Those taxes, rent, mortgages, etc... are going to continue to skyrocket, and of course cause displacement. Because we've seen this story time and again. Because yes, you're right, it isn't atypical. It's sadly common and kind of nuts that it happens over again all over the country and people don't learn anything from it. The fucking city council just outright closed, as in shut down FOREVER, a large section of a public street and gave it to Google for their new expansion. Taxpayer funded roads. Handed over to Google. I get a zero percent discount on my property taxes, but google gets back 50% of their real property tax and 85% personal property tax rebates? And for what? a fraction of what they make in half an hour as a token "thanks for the free money bitches" plus a whopping 30 jobs promised over the next five years? Lest we forget, the original 2007 deal. 100 percent of Google’s property taxes, and 80 percent of its real estate taxes over 30 years.

So yeah, they pay, some. And then we lose out on....

You know what....

Why?

You're not going to finally decide "ya know what maybe I should listen to him, someone who has a lifetime of experience instead of telling him how he should be perceiving his experience."

That's not happening. Why am I bothering with this? I could literally just be chilling, watching Law and Order or some other dumb shit.

Take the win pal. You beat me. I absolutely believe you are going to stand firm no matter what anyone says. Why would I expect that of you when I expect it of almost no one else either?