Potential for break up?

I've been thinking about California off and on lately. There is an assumption here that California naturally divides between North and South - hence "no cal" and "so cal". This is fueled by a "Marin County mentality" up north that No Cal is more refined, more cultured and therefore better than So Cal. San Francisco never got over being demoted by Los Angeles as California's first city.

Regardless the no cal/so cal difference is largely mythical. In reality California's two segments are east and west. The coast from northern Orange County to Oregon is increasingly apart from the inland parts of the state - which are more conservative and inward looking. Californians in Venice and Humbolt County are more alike than they are with Californians in Fresno or Riverside. It is a mute point though - because western California could not live with out eastern California's water and food. And eastern California needs our commerce and buying power.

There are a few "nation-states" in America: Texas, Alaska, California and to a degree Florida. Then there are regions: New England, the South. The Midwest.

A Russian professor has openly speculated on the potential for a break up of the U.S. This is an idea I would have thought absurd 10 years ago. Now I merely find it far fetched. I wonder how strong the ties that bind us are anymore. If the economic downturn is drastic what are the unifying threads in American life? The one idea that is powerfully American is individual freedom. This has been corroded severely by the Right and Left - from different angles to be sure but the damage is real. The right to Habeas Corpus and privacy has been willy nilly disregarded by the Right. The Left has nurtured a society that believes in "bail outs" on all levels: personal, professional, corporate. No believes in suffering consequences because we are all victims of something.

Without the basic idea of individual rights and responsibilities as ballast will an economic hurricane overwhelm us? Will regionalism trump patriotism? As a western Californian with family in Texas - I've visited Dallas a lot and felt the sense of being in a similar but different land. I imagine the same holds true for any Yankee who has spent a summer in Little Rock.

The tribalization of Americans is real and pronounced. Many around the world would benefit from a dismantled America. If we turned on each other I doubt if China would be crying about it.

No, I don't see it happening soon. But the potential is clearer than it was a few short years ago.