[central_va]

Unlike 1860, the are not two sides in conflict clearly defined by state lines and culture

BS. What do you think will the states and their governors just dissolve themselves for you? What crock.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

If there were an event catostrophic enough to cause the federal government to collapse, I would imagine that numerous state governments would collapse and de facto dissolve as well.

That said, I think the point being made is that rather than there being two distinct regions (north and south) at war, the conflict would be between towns, counties, neighbors, similar to the ARW in the rural south but more brutal. Instead of Virginia against Maryland, it will be rural Georgia against Atlanta and northern Maine against southern Maine. In very conservative states such as Oklahoma, the cities will heavily secured, besieged islands. In uber leftist states conservatives will be hounded out and killed. Balkanization at a human level.