Quebec Independence and Globalization

While traveling in Quebec this summer I read an interesting article by Pascal Cyr (La Presse, June 22nd). The journalist suggested that the Quebec sovereignty movement is on the decline. Certainly the defeat at the polls of the Bloc québécois in the 2011 Canadian federal election would support that proposition. But the reasons? He suggests that the advent of globalization and the rise of individualization are behind the political manifestation. Citizens engaged collectively in projects of community and nation building of the Post War periods of the latter half of 20th century, have given way to citizens in the new millennium far more concerned about their individual welfare. Increasingly people rely on themselves to realize their dreams and reach personal goals. He quotes Alexis de Tocqueville, “Each of them, taken apart, is alien to the destiny of others; ones children and close friends constitute the entirety of humanity. Each exists for themselves primarily and if remnants of family remain, at the very least it must be said that one no longer has a mother country.”
Are there parallels with the United States? First globalization and the banking and investment roller coaster, the rise of the Right, the rabid reassertion of individual rights, anti-government resentment, rampant partisanship. The collective good seems to be going out the window.