zombie84 said:
As it stands, Americans in New York have as much in common with Americans in Florida as Canadians in Ontario have with Canadians in Saskatchewan and Europeans in Germany have with Europeans in France. Politically and economically they may have ties, as is necessary being close neighbours because there is basically no choice. But if you are going to admit Germans and Frenchmen have distinct socio-cultural differences, then you have to admit that people in Quebec City and Vancouver, and Detroit and Dallas do as well.
Being an American who grew up in the northwest, spent substantial time living in Europe, the midwest, and now find myself somewhat trapped in the South, and having spent a great deal of time traveling all over the states as well as all as Europe, meeting and talking to people all the while as opposed to just sight seeing. I can say that is entirely untrue.
Sure, there are socio-cultural differences, but American culture is bound much tighter than that in many ways. The biggest cultural variances I have seen in the states have more to do with class than anything else. The affluent, successful, and educated tend to be quite out of touch with the lower class, and the lower class seem out of touch with the middle. Beyond that, from Detroit to Tennessee, from Oregon to Florida, from Nevada to Pennsylvania, Montana to Texas, and so on, we are strongly bound by pop culture, music, movies, television, foods, sports, products, religion or lack thereof, etc.