The way I see it the united states is two things.
Its an ideal, the idea of a free land where everyone can prosper and is free to celebrate whatever they want, is an amazing thought. As a country what we stand for is amazing and noble.
But in practice its not much different then any other country, we are unbelievably hypocritical and jaded at times, and we have a huge amount of flaws. Why a country was put into a position of power when its no better then any of the others is beyond me, we want equality within the states but yet we see ourselves as better then everyone else. We as a country have forgotten what we are, what the founding fathers wanted and what they and their brothers and arms fought for.