think you have to remember that countries this large require a level of regional tolerance to get along
most day to day issues for Americans are more regionally focused so they tend to have their different attitudes towards their right to govern regionally, no doubt it will provoke national sensitivities from time to time
when a national issue comes up, don't kid yourselves, the Americans are more patriotic than any other nation I have had experience with
you didn't have north south rivalries with the military personal in desert storm...... they were Americans first, northern or southerns second
I agree with Hatrick in terms of southern hospitality, in general on a personal level outside the dense cities like New York the American people are the friendliest most hospitable people you will meet when you meet them in their areas.
Two threads running in their minds at any given time. One is their regional or personal issues, second is a national patriotic side. Both are quite powerful issues or emotions with them. On one hand you can hear an American friend rant and rave about how incompetent the federal government is and how much they hate Washington, the next minute they are about to engage in a fist fight with you for insulting their flag.
Have to separate their national pride from their regional differences. In other words, I don't think they are in threat of any national instability or rifts.
On the other hand, I do think their government structurally is in need of some change. They have an astronomical national debt but no real way of fixing it. Congress are elected to represent their individual states, not come together and fix a major monetary flaw in their system. We are still in an era where we have some major systemic structural problems with economics and trying to get by with band aid fixes.
I think only a few days ago, the Alabama governor ordered the removal of the confederate flag from flying on state capital buildings. Mississippi still have the flag as part of their state flag and I think South Carolina still fly the flag.
This dates back to Abraham Lincoln wanting to bring the southern states back into the union gently without ramming federalism down their throats after the civil war. He wanted to unify with a large amount of respect and tolerance to heal national wounds. He was assassinated for it though.
No doubt there are still more radical or stronger emotional ties to the old rivalries which cause internal acts of violence. Would not take that as a major national division though.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-confederate-flag-explain-20150624-htmlstory.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...nor-confederate-flag-robert-bentley/29210283/