Have we as Americans lost our regional consciousness that began so strong in the 18th century? Or has it been overshadowed by our preoccupation with our own national consciousness?
While these questions are vague, they point to a longstanding continuum of social identity in this country. Western historians would cringe to hear anyone discredit regionality historically; especially in the American West. Yet is this the direction we are facing with national media and the cloud? As I write this blog and tweet at @calhistorian I myself am living predominantly in a national life, not regional or local. My political media intake rests on national audience pressures and generalized coverage for the masses. While the digital world has obliterated the tyranny of space, has this only silenced the micro and local world where we actually exist or at least rendering it insignificant? Problems in local governance, general public apathy, and a weak civil culture are, it seems, manifestations of this movement towards a unrooted national consciousness.
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