What's happening makes more sense if America is understood no longer as one country, but two countries distinctly separate from each other. The urban half is tightly clustered and geographically dispersed (blue dots in a sea of red) but produces nearly two-thirds of economic output. The rural region is sprawling, backwards, hyper-religious and dying.

Think about the quality of life statistics you see for various countries. America as a whole fares not-too-great in these showings. But imagine if you broke out those statistics into two blocks, urban versus rural.

Urban America would show some of the best numbers in the world, on par with Singapore, Denmark and so on, with some of the best opportunity and highest quality of life.

Rural America, meanwhile, would look more like a third world country or a quasi-failed-state. Because that is what it's becoming. Falling population, rising opioid addiction, stagnating education, no solutions, not even functional broadband in large sweeps of rural areas... if it were a standalone country you would just walk away.

This helps explain the renewed rise of white nationalism, protectionism, isolationism, and a cultural backlash in defense of sexism, bigotry and hatred. These are the values of authoritarian failed-or-failing states. There is a natural kinship with other authoritarian failed-or-failing states that tolerate rampant homophobia, an emphasis on skin color, blood-and-soil nationalism (locals over foreigners), a state-sanctioned religion, suppression of debate, and so on.

The Republican party meanwhile acts like warlords, with policies that amount to economic looting, because they understand what it takes to dominate and exploit a failed-or-failing state, populated by a gullible, suspicious and non-educated citizenry. Think where the most inextreme inequality in the world occurs: In dictatorships and oligarchies, where the party leaders have billions and per capita income is at the subsistence poverty line.

A pressing question here is whether it's possible to go back. It might not be. America has always been odd in this manner -- one of the most dynamic, entrepreneurial and educated countries in the world, yet simultaneously one of the most backwards and religious countries in the world. The schism may yet grow worse.