> Its a remnant from a time when the US was a collection of states instead of a single country. This is stated as fact, but it's begging the question, of cours

> Its a remnant from a time when the US was a collection of states instead of a single country. This is stated as fact, but it's begging the question, of course, because the tension described is exactly what we're talking about. The United States still are a collection of states, to varying degrees, and the degrees are exactly what's under scrutiny here. That's not a remnant from another time; it's the central conflict, still relevant today.