Does the US really need 50 states?

What about the flag? the 50 stars and stripes...yeh yeh, ignoring all that.

Does the US really need 50 sets of different governments? It seems like an awful lot of duplication is taking place. Combining states to form regional blocks is my suggestion. This will streamline business/economic functions and make the US more competitive against the new threats from china/india/EU.

Thoughts?

You need to remember much of non-immigrant America hates each other.  In fact, I'd say it was better off a massive battleground during Revolution and Civil War years than a failed civilization in the making.