I think that our Russian friend may be onto something... even though I disagree with his scenario about a regionalization. Many of the previous posts have made good and valid points about the United States become less and less united. The emphasis on "multiculturalism" has made the "melting pot" idea bad, and part of the old ways of thinking. An example of how different that was to those who emigrated to the US, was my Grandfather... once they arrived in the US, he would only allow English to be spoken in the house. My mother remembers the biggest arguements between he and my Grandmother being about her continuing to speak Norwegian with her friends and in the neighborhood. We still honor many Norwegian traditions, especially at Christmas, but are Americans. Period. Have been for three generations now.
Anyway... back to the Russian Professor. An item I agree with him on is the role that the current economic situation will have on exacerbating the divisions between regions. I don't think that the bailout(s) will correct things and bring the economy back. I beleive we are moving into a necessary period of re-adjustment, which will be very painful. A consequence of that pain may well be increased state government dissillusionment with central government programs, legislation and taxation. If I were to guess at what a modified map would look like, you'll see the NE and upper Midwest in affiliation, with the central southern, central southwest, plains and mountain states coming together. That then leaves the west coast to form its own socialist utopia probably with coastal Oregon and Washington.
Most importantly, I don't see this as something that is inherently violent. This isn't the civil war redux, and the worst thing for any side to do would be to either threaten or attempt to use force to achieve their aims.
The last area that I find issue with our friend about is his view that Russia and China are ready to step in to fill the place of the US in facilitating the global economy. I don't think he understands how much has changed and how evident those changes will become inthe next 6 - 12 months. I also feel that one reason that we haven't heard much from China lately is that they are busy internally trying to "keep the genie in the bottle" and that the recent slowdown has affected them much moreso that we (the public) can see or they will admit.
Jeff B.
