Obviously there are numerous problems with this, but I'll just point out a couple. First, what is up with "Midlands"? Do we really see much commonality among Clayton NM, Aberdeen SD, Joliet IL, East Steubenville WV, and Baltimore MD? [For non-USAsians, these cities are nowhere near each other and are in no respect similar.] This looks like gerrymandering: something about these counties would have destroyed the narrative had they been included in adjacent Yankeedom, New Netherland, Tidewater, Greater Appalachia, El Norte, or Far West, so they weren't, because reasons. Unconvincing.

With respect to the other focus of TFA, violence, we see more of the same "ignore-all-nations-except-for-Northern-Europe-Japan-and-New-Zealand" crap that is typical in trendy "comparisons" of USA to "the rest of the world". The difference between USA and the short list of nations this sort of "analysis" deigns to consider is that USA is a nation of colonial origin. [EDIT: whoops... NZ is too.] Look at all other nations that were colonized, in Latin America and Africa. They all struggle with violence to an equal or greater extent than USA. Ahistoric pap like TFA perpetuates political bias more than it promotes understanding.