What Constitutes the United States of America?

''America is the best idea the world has ever served up.''

WRITTEN by Michael Corthell

What is America? What does the American flag symbolize? What is true patriotism? 

The United States of America is a place but really it is just an idea, but what an idea it is. 

Yes, the United States of America was founded on a idea. This exceptional country was not formed  for the powerful, or for the elite, but rather it was created to put forth a set of principles. A set of principles to guide and protect the world. 

America, like all else is not perfect, these ideals have been, from time to time in our history, been less than ideally kept, but these ideals remain, even unto this day. The idea that is America persists despite difficult times.

One sentence, just 36 words capture this idea that is America. It is set in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Almost every word in this divinely inspired sentence, (that is 241 years old today), is full of meaning and awesomely relevant, especially at this crucial time in our history.

America was founded upon truth, not just one truth, but several. Number one: All people are equal before God and mankind. Two: Human beings have rights that are given to them by God, rights that cannot be revoked by mankind. Three: The right to live. Four: Freedom to choose. These self-evident truths are always true across all cultures, all civilizations, and at all times.

These inalienable or irrevocable rights are not dependent on government. In the United States of America, our Constitution guarantees these rights through due process of law.

Our lives should not be lived in such a way that means death for another person. Our pursuit of happiness must not infringe on the rights of others.

The American declaration is not calling for anarchy. Far from it.

The American idea believes in government, good limited government, rightly instituted and properly restrained. However, the rights outlined by this idea are surprisingly radical, even today. Most of the world is in darkness, but thankfully America is its light.

No matter how young, how old, wealthy or poor, every person deserves a chance for a life of happiness. Every human being deserves a chance at self-governance and to be self-determining. Each one of us has the right to purse his own self-interests.

Additionally, there is a very good a reason America's founders did not overly fret about safety and security. It's because they believed freedom and liberty to be better ideals, loftier goals, and more conducive to the common good than locking out the world, and that those ideas and ideals themselves would keep their posterity safe.

This is what the United State of America is. It is not the government, about the government (or heaven forbid about one man). It is an idea that all human beings are equal and that they are free. To be a true American patriot is to be loyal to and have allegiance to the truth of Liberty and Equality.

And when the United States of America acts in ways that are not in in line with the American idea, the whole world takes notice of it.

They notice, because it matters to them. It matters to them because the American idea belongs to everyone, every single human being.

When we disappoint our allies or support violent dictators, people notice and they care, because it violates their idea of what America is about. America, therefore has a responsibility, and a mandate to guide the world toward true freedom for all, not dictate to, but to be a lamp that lights the path to that freedom for all.