This was inevitable once the original constitution was overthrown, the federal government broke free of all the restraints placed upon it and the states were reduced from being constitutional actors in their own right to being little more than administrative conveniences entirely subordinate to imperial Washington in all things.
If in our system we no longer allow Alabama to be Alabama and Vermont to be Vermont....that is two very different states with different histories, worldviews and laws, if we force everybody into one federal straitjacket, then everything is inevitably going to become a very nasty fight to determine which of our two broad “tribes” gets to impose its worldview on the other. That is exactly the situation today.
This has been inevitable since Appamattox. It was entirely foreseeable.
Robert E Lee in response to Lord Acton:
“I yet believe that the maintenance of the rights and authority reserved to the states and the people not only essential to the adjustments and balance of the general system, but the safeguard to the continuance of a free government. I consider it as the chief source of stability to our political system, whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it.”
The Roman's got the jump on everyone with advanced metalurgy. It provided the means for not just weapons, but agricultural tools that greatly expanded yields and supported ever larger populations, many of whom then joined the legions. Yet they relaxed and rested on their laurels, instead of continuing to focus on firearms and other implements that would have allowed them complete control.
OK, back to today. Genetic research is yielding key clues into manifestations of gene expressions that influence everything from physical shape & appearance to intelligence and cognitive abilities. I think many would agree that the basis of our political divide is based on race & IQ. Solve these two issues, and the primary differences evaporate.
In a free market driven by both elective and selective gene therapies, which standard(s) of beauty and intelligence will predominate? The world isn't going to become more diverse; rather, the future suggests everyone will look & act the same.