It literally died after the Civil War, but ideologically, it's still alive and has been dragging American down for over 150 years now. We have seen first hand what happens to racist, undereducated, impoverished, religiously zealous states. They become human shit holes. I feel so bad for the majority of people who are stuck in these places. Ensuring people aren't living in poverty and have access to a classical education would go far in preventing their being hijacked by special interests who don't give a shit about the people they're supposed to be representing. This actually goes for the entire country. We've allowed ourselves to be hijacked.