In 1860, you had 2 geographically distinct regions with incompatible agendas. They had agriculture, industry, strong international trading partners. The North and South both had the makings of a nation.
Now, look what we've got: the Urban Left at the outer fringes are trying to pick a fight with the Conservative hinterlands. What's going to happen? In this part of the world, if the Lefties get uppity in Cincinnati, all we need to do build a cordon on the I-275 loop and block everything coming in and out. They'll be starved out in a week. I'll gladly man the barricades in Covington when the survivors try to stage a breakout over the Roebling Bridge. Please! Just give me the order to fix bayonets. I'm begging.
Antifa gets jiggy? Okay, let's see how a rock in a sock stacks up against an M1 Garand. Just because the pajama boys are wearing black, don't make them ninjas. When they come up the drive, I've got my soup pot helmet and bandoliers ready for that one. And let's not forget that the current coalition of the Left can't even get their agenda straight. The Feminists are fighting with LGBT crowd. The Blacks don't really like the Beaners, and everyone on that side secretly hates the Semites, but nobody will come out and say so.
Were it to really come down to it, the Red States can feed themselves, and they have a cohesive social fabric.
