United States, the U.S….What’s That Spell!

Have you ever noticed that the initials of the Unites States spell us? Funny, isn’t it, that a country founded by religious outcasts and freedom seeking souls (mostly from Europe, a place not known throughout most of its history for its unity and harmony among nations) would found a nation where all of them from over there would evolve into all of us over here …the U.S.

But I won’t stop there … most of the nations of Africa and Asia have been warring people and have been brutalizing each other for centuries. Even the nations of the new world in South and Central America are not as friendly to one another as they could be they are not united.

I refrain from calling myself an American … I try to describe myself as much as possible as a citizen of the United States or the U.S. (and a Texan). In my writings, I try to avoid referring to the our country as America … I do my best to use United States. It is significant to me that we always remember that we are one nation composed of states held together by documents meant to unite a common people with a common cause, while at the same time allowing the states to remain free and independent enough to govern themselves in a way that will suit the will of the people of each state best.

I like that the initials spell out a word that best describes who we are. Us is a simple word that can be easily be swapped with the word we (as in we the people), another simple, yet descriptive, word. We mostly use us and we when identifying with each other positively such as with family and friends, as a team, and as a nation. We often use them or they typically as a negative way to identify others. I don’t know who first said it, but I like this saying, “if we stand together united, no one can defeat us” … it sounds like something a coach would say doesn’t it? … I’ll bet it is from the Bible.

We are at a point in our country’s young history when it is important to remember why the United States was founded. We are a nation that was born in a time when individual rights, liberties, and concerns came second to those of a king and of oppressive, imperialistic nations. Had the colonies been territories of France, Spain, or Italy, the revolutionary war would still have had to been fought. The founders knew that a powerful central government limits the rights given to us from God … that is why limiting government is the foremost function of our Constitution … not the over-reaching control of We the people ...us: you and me.

We are now in a time when we must recognize that there are factions at work among us that desire we be at odds with each other. They (Republicans and Democrats, immigrants, both legal and illegal alike ) believe that they can do better than our founding fathers and that they can keep our nation together by eliminating our union. However, there are people (like me) that look to our constitution as the corner stone of our union. Our desire is to keep our union safe from harm by putting away our differences … just as the framers of the Constitution did in order to create these United States … in order to create US.

There you have it
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue

Eddie Perez / U.S. American