This map shows the US really has 11 separate 'nations' with entirely different cultures

This is from the book "American Nations," OP, which I loved when it was first published, but find particularly thought-provoking in these Trumpian times.

I'm in the westernmost Tidewater, right on the border of Greater Appalachia.

[quote]Tidewater was built by the young English gentry in the area around the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina. Starting as a feudal society that embraced slavery, the region places a high value on respect for authority and tradition. Woodard notes that Tidewater is in decline, partly because "it has been eaten away by the expanding federal halos around D.C. and Norfolk."

Those kind of read like overly simplistic bullshit. I like The United States of Canada and Jesusland better (but I'm pretty sure Alberta should be part of Jesusland).

I'm part of the Fire Nation but I feel like I belong in the Water Tribe.

Not to be oversimplistic, but to be oversimplistic, lets take NY Boston and the BLUE east coast, along with California, and join with Canada. Build a huge wall around all the red states, and leave them be. Hilarity ensues.

Northern Ohio - Yankeedom.

R4, that's the map at R2. Except you forgot the blue part of the Midwest. You can't get much bluer than Illinois and Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are regaining their sanity.

Including any of Canada in this is sheer and utter nonsense. Americans have no clue about anything outside their borders.

I'm District 12.

Wisconsin people are very different from Massachusetts people. The North Central should be its own (nice) country.

OP, that map is from 2015, since then the Left Coast has taken a big bite out of the Far West. The Far West has shrunk to about half of its size.

LOL El Norte. El Norte is Merging with the left Coast . Tijuana is becoming Central America lite.

I think the Democrats should start a movement to give Texas back to Mexico.

Apparently, I'm in Greater Appalachia. But, my identity is still as a Yankee. I'm definitely not Appalachian (I can barely even spell the word).

I'm in the Midlands but ugh, I don't wanna be.

We've been a hot mess since our founding. In fact there were periods when we had three or four or five political parties because of regionalism and rivalries sprng from geography.

I’ve been saying this shit on here forever, only to get called “Boris” whenever I suggest that maybe we’re better off breaking up the United States.

All these maps are irrelevant. The red/blue divide is not regional, it's urban vs. rural. The only reason the Republicans have any chance of holding power is clusters of western and deep south states where there is minimal urban population and the Senate and the electoral college give them far more power than their populations would indicate. For instance ND, SD, NE, WY and MT combined have about half a million fewer people than Minnesota. Minnesota has 10 electoral college votes - those other states combined have 20. That means voters in those states have more than double the say in who gets to be president than a Minnesotan. And let's not even get into how under represented California is. Sure it was all set up by the founding fathers, but do you really believe those men envisioned a country of 50 states that ranged in population from just over a half a million to nearly 40 million? Think about that. Wyoming voters have nearly 80 times the power when casting a vote for president than a Californian does, and those half a million people in Wyoming have as much say over who gets to be on the Supreme and other federal courts as 40 million people in California do.

The Midlands.

Technically Cabot Cove is slab dab on the middle of Yankeedom but to be honest, I travel so much seeing my dear old friends, I could be any one of them!

No backwater option for Amos?

This pretty much reflects how I think about the US. Although this is geographical and general, I also think about certain subcultures, too.

I was at a charity event here in Manhattan the other night, and being introduced to .01%ers. I was amazed at how TRIBAL it was. Thought about how it might look it if we were at a .01% event, say, in Silicon Valley or Dallas. The costumes might be different.

Anyway. I’m in Yankeedom and really only feel comfortable among my own region.

Hawaii must join the United States of Canada.

Clickbait nonsense.

Tidewater, although the closest body of water to me is my toilet.

It isn't nonsense, though I disagree with some of his conclusions:

New Netherlands really should be called The Melting Pot. The makeup of the area has less to do with the original Dutch settlers as it has to do with constant influx of new ideas from a very diverse and ever changing population.

I also think that there should be a New Italy and A New Israel as there are pockets, granted small pockets, that are heavily influenced by Italian and Jewish heritage.

However, one of the reasons that world is a huge mess is the notion that we are all alike. It has become so pervasive that many school districts will not do the "which one is not like the other" tests in elementary school because they teach differences. Republicans are successful because they know how to alter their message to reach different "tribes". Democrats unrealistically think their message is universal.

This map is bullshit.

I come from a very distinct subculture that influences everyone around it and in no way resembles anything else in its area. No one can make generalizations about areas that large.

So r4 you want to leave the trumpkins without a viable economy, but with all our nuclear weapons? Amazing idea!

Houston and Dallas have very little in common with Atlanta and Charleston, SC. Only someone ensconced in the Northeast would believe that all those places are part of the same "Deep South" culture.

A little more detail.

I can't tell if Columbus, OH is "Midlands" or "Greater Appalachia". It looks like they've dipped the Midlands in juuust enough to scoop-up my hometown.

I have to laugh, because of the self involvement in this thread.

Look, I am originally from So. Cal. I don't ski, I don' surf, I can't tell a BMW from a VW, and I have more than 3% body fat. I got out as fast as I can. There will always be exceptions, and there will always be pockets that do not match the rest of the larger area. The map hits on this by making the NY tri state area a separate country. Madison Wisconsin is another example. As I implied, there are areas of Florida that are very Jewish and do not fit into the Deep South. Just because you do not fit the description, does not mean it is wrong in the larger sense.

Also, people do tend to gravitate to areas that have the same values as them. One might be born on the Left Coast, but move to the Deep South because it reflects one's values. The map doesn't mean if one is born in that area, one automatically has those values.

The map is not perfect, but it at least acknowledges that there are very different and often conflicting values based on geographic regions.

[quote]The map hits on this by making the NY tri state area a separate country.

The New York METROPOLITAN area, Rose.

Northern California should be red.

^Oops, sorry. I wad referring to the map at r2, not the original one OP posted.

I never understand why the New York City area is supposed to be so liberal. My impression is foreigners (religious/conservative); Jews (voting for Trump because he's tough on Muslims); blacks (African American men voted yugely for Trump)... and the rest Archie Bunker-types.

I don't get it.

R32, are you a NYer?

Inches away from Greater Appalachia apparently, but I grew up in Appalachia proper, and the Midwest doesn't feel like Appalachia at all. It's much bleaker, blander, more insidious.

[quote] It's much bleaker, blander, more insidious.

Which one is much bleaker, blander, more insidious?

[quote]The only reason the Republicans have any chance of holding power is clusters of western and deep south states where there is minimal urban population and the Senate and the electoral college give them far more power than their populations would indicate.

I don't know how true this is anymore. With the population shift to the south and to the west, there are huge urban areas in Florida, Texas, and Georgia--all red states.

Is Houston the Deep South or El Norte?

Big Data which has more control then the bulk of people are aware of - is closing the feedback loops making people more blue or red then ever before. Its been such a seemingly slow creep most people are unaware its even happened. Everyone is getting hard boiled into their thought process and disliking the "other" with more passion. Its sad really, but Western Civilization seems to foster duality thinking - we are raised on its concepts and live them from Cradle to Grave. I've found my self so exhausted with it all I've come to spending hours watching travel videos on Youtube about places like Peru/Laos. Escapism sure, but its exhausting to live in a "house" were all thats going on is bickering.

R32, I’m a New Yorker and don’t know a single Jewish person who voted for Trump! Are you talking about Hasidim or something?

The only Trump voters I know are Christian and religious.

R38, I find most of the Western world is far more nuanced than the USA. I think a lot of it has to do with our obsession with football specifically and team sports in general. I also see this in the UK, where one is identified by the soccer or rugby team that one supports. So much so, that it seems to be a requirement for any bio of a male UK personality.

R38, I don’t disagree. I’m a lifelong liberal, and it’s killing me to agree with conservatives on a few issues. I can’t stand being pushed to the right, but that’s what is happening with this polarization. The hill that I’ll die on is abortion rights, so I’ll never fully transition. But I find the extremism very distasteful.

Yes, r16. That's how the founding fathers planned it. It was to keep Virginia from having too much influence as it was nearly double and triple the population of the other states. Today it would be NY and California.

I don't think r32 has stepped foot in NYC since the 70s.

[quote]Republicans are successful because they know how to alter their message to reach different "tribes". Democrats unrealistically think their message is universal.

You're an idiot. Repugs only appeal to uneducated, white, hetero, racist, Christian males and their idiotic, non-thinking wives. And for this last election, the wives with even a smidgen of brains abandoned the Repugs, too. There's a reason the Repugs have to keep cheating. Their base is dwindling. Without the gerrymandering, the ridiculous electoral college, and the outright cheating, the Repugs would never have a majority again.

[quote]there are huge urban areas in Florida, Texas, and Georgia--all red states.

Yes there are - but if you look at electoral results at the county level the urban areas in those states are very blue. Also the Republican statewide wins in those states last month were not cakewalks for the winners (as they usually are in Texas and Georgia). Florida is not a red state. It's the definition of purple. You could put winning the lottery vs. getting shot in the head to a vote and the results would be 50.1% to 49.9%, with Broward county engulfed in yet another ballot counting controversy.

R44, not true at all. 52% of white women voted for Trump and 44% of white women with a college degree voted for Trump.

You can draw these maps in almost any Country.

The North and South of England are very different, socially and culturally, the same for Wales. You'd need to split Scotland between the West and East coasts though.

Even Malta, one of the tiniest Countries in the World (18miles x 9miles) can be divided by a line that runs from Valletta to Rabat to define their North/South divide.

Exactly r16, the real divide is urban by rural. That is the biggest geographic divide when it comes to politics.

Even my smallish city here in South Carolina is pretty liberal. I really didn't expect that before I moved here. Step outside the city limits though.....

We are a divided and racist nation!

(Except for that time when a black guy won both the electoral and popular votes.)

(Oh, and that other time when a black guy won both the electoral and popular votes.)

I feel like we trot out this "Divided" States of America argument whenever we on the left fail to have a platform of ideas and policies that connect with all Americans. Even Bill Clinton knew how to talk to and govern all 50 states. Democrats need to learn these are NOT 11 separate nations in time for the next elections.

I refuse to shut off my ad blocker for Business Insider

R50 doesn't know the definition of racism. R50 is also a troll trying to attack Democrats when we just won a nationwide election, proving everything he just said is false. R50 is an idiot who needs to understand this is a book written a decade ago (a good and engaging read) and is not the policy of the Democratic Party. R50 needs to get the fuck off this website because R50 ain't fooling ANYONE.

R41 is also a troll and fake. No one who is a liberal is going to become a conservative because the nation is divided. I've never read such stupidity. Another one who is not fooling ANYONE.

[quote] I’ve been saying this shit on here forever, only to get called “Boris” whenever I suggest that maybe we’re better off breaking up the United States.

You angered the OCD Troll Naming Troll. A troll who allows no disagreement with her narrow definition of “democrat.” Her definition of democrat, btw, is herself.

And I’m not a misogynist calling a man a woman because I disagree with him. She’s a woman, baby.

R46, nothing you wrote contradicts what I said. And, the last election I was talking about was the midterms where white suburban women resoundingly told the Repugs to go fuck themselves.

Colin Woodard, who wrote "American Nations" and created this map, is a fine journalist. And this book was published in 2011; it was not written in response to Trump, or any of our recent national political trauma. So some of you need to relax. American regional identity is a fascinating topic, and worthy of discussion here or anywhere.

Cheap-ass R51 is from Secretlesbonia.

So southern Louisiana is a bastion of liberalism? That doesn't sound right to me.

That would be New Orleans, R57.

Break it down with publication 9 nations of north america. Just US.

Old news for some

😂So very apparent those who put this map to bed while pursuing degrees and those who front as one of them with google searches😂

R52, I’m not fake and not a troll. I’ll never vote Republican unless they start defending and expanding abortion rights. But I’m getting sick of the PC identity politics of the left. Begrudgingly, sometimes, but I’m still voting Dem. I wish we could vote for issues, not people.

If you think that’s fake, that’s fine.

R61, I felt for you when I saw you attacked as a troll earlier. Your post struck me as totally sincere. The fact that we get shot down here as soon as we stray from the party line illustrates the problem perfectly.

For what it's worth, I'm also going to die on the abortion rights/women's rights hill, but it sucks to be branded as a traitor by my own people when I draw the line at some of the more extreme stuff. And this is after a lifetime of personal and career sacrifices for the (leftist) causes I believe in. We seem to have all lost the ability to talk calmly and rationally with each other.

In Colorado, things have changed since this map was drawn.

Like the article says, people self select. Making pot legal (first) caused a huge influx of young, creative, liberal minded people.

By sheer numbers, they are outnumbering the older west coast conservatives.

R60, which are you? Your sentence is incomprehensible and without adequate context.