From: "John Cuccia" 

"Randall Parker"  wrote in message
news:MPG.139202d0b287638098a3b7{at}news.barkto.com...
> In article , jcuccia{at}bigfoot.com says...
> > The problem with the idea of state's rights is the homogeneity of
American
> > culture; the states are no longer the "laboratories"
for self-government
> > that the founders envisioned.
>
> American culture is actually becoming more heterogeneous. I can cite many
> examples of how this is so.
>
> Look at TV and racial preferences. 20 years ago and even 10 years ago
> (remember the Cosby Show?) the top 10 TV shows for blacks and whites had
> a fair degree of overlap. No longer. One reason is that their cultures
> may well be diverging and causing the change in preferences. Another
> reason may be that with more channels more narrow tastes can be catered
> to.

Entertainment may make the culture *seem* more diverse, but I don't see
that reflected in the opinions of either the majority of Americans or in
their elected representatives.

> > I think majority attitudes in most states differ very little on
"hot-button"
> > issues like drugs and homosexual marriage, and so some people looking
for a
> > place where their particular predilictions are sanctioned have trouble
> > finding one.
>
> Not true! Travelling from Santa Barbara to the South still seems to me
> like a big shift in attitudes.

California's different .  I don't see a lot of difference in
attitude between small-town Louisiana and small-town Ohio (I spent most of
the winter in Findlay in the northwestern part of that state).

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