With the paperback of The Longest Road launched today (May 13), it seems a good time for a little reflection.

I’ve been thinking a lot about two questions I put to the eighty-odd people I interviewed on the trip: “What holds a country as vast and diverse as the United States together? What puts the unum in the pluribus?” And, “Do you think it’s holding together as well as it used to? Will it continue to?”

The answers were as many and varied as the people I asked. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, if you care to give them.

Recently, I came across what purports to be an ancient Chinese proverb: A kingdom divided must unite; a kingdom united must divide.

There are powerful centrifugal forces at work in the world, ripping nations and societies apart. Syria and the Ukraine are two extreme examples. Could this contagion spread to the United States? I wonder if the stand off  Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters staged with federal agents executing a legitimate order was a freak occurrence or a preview of coming attractions.

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