What does it mean to be American?

Recently I heard a comment by Dennis Prager stating that the greatest threat facing America is that the Baby Boomer generation and its posterity haven't been taught what it means to be American. SO, what does it mean to be American?

To be American means to believe in the individual. It means to believe that all men are created equal and as such are endowed with certain unaniable rights. That a democratic republic government is an institution ordained by God, created by the people, for the people as a means of providing the necessary rule of law so that individual rights can be secured thus allowing all individuals the freedom to achieve their greatest potential. They also understand that this freedom however does not guarantee equality or the same results for each person.

To be American means to understand that with self government comes the necessity to govern ones self. That for an individual to take full advantages of the freedoms granted him/her there must be adherence to a moral code which would include responsibility, accountability (to themselves, others, and God), morality and charity. An American understands that as a "nation under God" without a national morality eventually the moral fiber of the country and the ability of self govern would erode and eventually cease to exist.

An American understand that no member of society is entitled to more than the individual freedoms necessary for them or anyone else to reach their full potential through the utilization of their God given talents and abilities.

An American understands that equality can be and often is the antithesis of liberty. And that the purpose of government is to guarantee and guard liberty and not ensure equality.

The Founding Fathers and the colonists who supported them were rugged individualists who challenged the greatest military power at the time not so they could have taxation WITH representation (and be equal to other British subjects) but so they and their posterity could enjoy the freedom of creating their own destiny according to their abilities, talents and desires.

In short an American believes in the exceptionalism and uniqueness of the American experiment in every aspect. From its humble birth to its influence as a world power, to be American means to recognises that at no other time in the history of man has there existed the level of freedom and potential for human progress and development as there does with the United States of America.

Isn't it great to be American?