Beacons of Common Sense

American Privilege

8/21/25

Aspiring, working hard, and stretching beyond limits are core to human nature.  The sparks of curiosity and drive are in all of us, and through the many years, they have driven mankind to survive and flourish.  There are few qualities more American.  They are core to the American Dream.  They point to a bright future for "We The People" and the rest of the world.  President Reagan often referred to America as a “Beacon of Freedom and Opportunity.”  As Americans, we all share this Dream and see it as a common privilege.  It frees us to pursue our dreams.  The resulting aspirations and achievements are personal and only limited by our abilities and drive.  

Today, this privilege is frequently confused with a historically attained advantage.  Or, by denying another person something through wrongful or illegal acts.  Probably the most commonly referred to privilege is white privilege.  We are led to believe that privilege knows skin color, when in fact, privilege is really color blind.  Whether we are liberal or conservative, left or right, man or woman, young or old, no matter our color, no matter our custom, no matter where we’ve come from, no matter our language, no matter our religion, no matter our sexual orientation, and no matter what divides us or makes us different from each other, it’s time for all of us to put aside these labels and create a label-free zone for all humans. In America, there is only American privilege.  As Americans, we are all privileged.

Our most crucial privilege is voting.  We all share this privilege as citizens in America.  Each vote is equal to every other vote.  "We the People" all bear this right and responsibility.  It is the core reason that no matter who we are or where we come from, all of us have the freedom and liberty to become whatever we want and reach as high as our effort will allow.  For each of us, this American privilege points optimistically to the future. 

So, if you are an American citizen, your future is entirely in your hands.  There are steps you can begin taking immediately.  Take them!

Step 1:  Personal-Look in the mirror.  What are you doing with your privilege?  It’s a gift.  Your responsibility is to make the most of it for yourself, your family, your community, America, and the Human Race.

Step 2:  Family-Pass on a legacy of privilege.  A legacy of honesty, hard work, and fulfilled responsibilities.

Step 3:  Community-Do public service and give back.  Use your privilege to help others.

Step 4:  VOTE!  Use your most important privilege and fulfill your most critical responsibility for yourself, your family, and America.

Copyright © 2025 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

IT'S TIME

These are difficult times, but we can take heart in our strength.  Many among us daily risk everything to help the few.  They work on our streets, in our hospitals, and generally our communities.  Some have sworn to serve and protect us from foreign aggressors.  They are all heroes.  Now, especially in this "voting season," all of us must rise up.  It’s our turn now, and our duty now.  There are changes that “WE THE PEOPLE,” must make. 

  

”We the People" (you and me) hunger for leadership, honesty, and the re-emergence of public service.  We don’t need more politicians who accumulate power and enrich themselves.  We have too many of those, and many are corrupt.  We need public servants to lead us.  We need public servants to work together, and to inspire us.  Elective office must be about people and public service, not power and politics.  The currency of our actions needs to be honesty, not influence or money.  Only then can WE focus on what we can become, and what we can achieve.  

In all of this, WE have a part to play too.  We need to stop peering outside ourselves.  Stop pointing our fingers.  We should spend more time looking at the person in the mirror, because what WE become as a nation begins with each of us individually.  Each of us, and all of us as a country, in support of our freedoms and liberties, need to focus on our individual responsibilities, and our individual actions.  

Indeed, it’s time to get back to basics.  It’s time to remember a few simple things.  Let’s begin by resurrecting two old, but important and timeless virtues. THEY are the virtues of HONESTY AND PUBLIC SERVICE.  

Let's all vote on November 5th!

David W. Wygant

MY CREED

I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen.
Humbled and dulled by having the
State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk;
To dream and to build.
To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment
To the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done
All this is what it means
To be an American.”

― Dean Alfange

** NOTE:  In many copies of this writing it concludes with the word "American."  However, in a few instances, it concludes with the word "Entrepreneur."

THE TALE OF TWO WOLVES (A Guide for Voting)

At all levels of government, a lot is said.  There’s a lot of talk.  Especially, during campaigns candidates make many promises (how many are kept?). 

With this in mind, it’s best to watch what is done, and what is accomplished.  Promises are always kept through actions!  This is key to how we vote. Look at what has been done, and what has been accomplished. 

Also, ask questions.  Because of policies and decisions made by the government, is your life better than it was?  If so, then vote for that to continue.  If not, then vote for something else, or someone else.  All of this is like feeding the wolves.

How do voters feed the wolves?

• With our time
• By ignoring one or the other way.  Thereby implicitly making the other stronger.
• With our money.
• With our attention.

Demonstrate the power of your vote.  Vote for vision and positive actions.  Ignore the words.

VOTE FOR THE WOLF YOU WANT TO FEED!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © [2020] by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

BEACONS OF INQUIRY--INTRODUCTION

What is Beacons of Inquiry?  What is inquiry?  What place does it have in our democracy?  Why is it important to WE THE PEOPLE as voters?

The most important reason to ask ALL the questions (Inquire) is to insure that we find all the best answers and solutions.  All the questions also means thinking both short AND long term.  If there is a debate, and one side of an argument purposely omits a question, that is deception.  It is likely they aren’t looking for the best answer, but instead are looking for the most political advantage.  Identifying all the questions tends to maximizes justice.  This approach has been baked into our justice system through the formal process of discovery since the beginning of our American journey.

EXAMPLE

Let’s give Inquiry a trial run using the current debate on socialism.  America has a market economy (capitalism).  Several Democratic hopefuls are advocating for a sharp turn to socialism.  In America, this would be an abrupt change.  It is the kind of issue that elevates passions on both sides of the argument (question).

Here’s a beginning list of questions we might ask:

• What is the history of socialism on our planet?
• What is the promise of socialism?
• Where has socialism succeeded?
• Where has socialism failed to live up to its promises?
• What about democratic socialism?  How is it different from socialism?
• How does socialism compare to a market economy (America)?
• Are there examples where market economies competed with socialism?
• What are the pros and cons of market economies and socialism?
• … etc.

In future editions of Beacons of Inquiry, we will do our best to identify as many questions as possible for each of the most controversial issues.  The best answers and solutions depend on knowing all the questions first.  So, over time there will be followup Beacons of Inquiry for specific issues.  

Our goal as voters is to push candidates toward the questions.  Then when they offer their vision, and their solutions, they should tell us how it positively answers all the questions for America.

Then we will know how to vote!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © [2020] by David William Wygant. All rights reserved. 

VOCABULARY DEFINITIONS OF OUR TIMES

Words are key building blocks in every language.  Our words are the basis of our communications with others, and with ourselves.  Our thoughts determine the words that connect us with everything outside. Have you ever said something and then immediately asked yourself, “Did I say that or think that?”  Not everything we think should be said, right?

Because words can be weapons.  They can be used as camouflage to hide the things we are doing.  This is called projection.

The best understanding of our own words and thoughts, or those of others, is gained by watching the actions that follow (or precede).  We should be careful observers of actions.  Sometimes actions don’t match the words and/or thoughts.  There can be good reasons, and bad reasons.  Either way, actions are always meaningful.  

Here’s a partial list of words from the Voting Alert Beacons glossary to which the above comments apply:  

Alt Right extremist:  The alt right (short for “alternative right”) is a segment of the white supremacist movement consisting of a loose network of racists and anti-Semites who reject mainstream conservatism in favor of politics that embrace implicit or explicit racism, anti-Semitism and white supremacy.

Authoritarian:  Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.

Bigot:  A person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.

Compassion:  Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

Cult ideology:  In the sociological classifications of religious movements, a cult is a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices, although this is often unclear.

Fascism:  A form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.

Groupthink:  The practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility.

Gay:  (of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man).

Heteronormativity:  The belief that heterosexuality, predicated on the gender binary, is the norm or default sexual orientation. It assumes that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.

Homophobic:  Having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people.

Illegal immigrants:  Illegal immigration refers to the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country, or the continued residence of people without the legal right to live in that country.

Immigrants:  A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Islamophobic:  Having or showing a hatred or fear of Muslims or of their politics or culture.

LGBTQ:  LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which was used to replace the term gay in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Mansplaining:  The explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.

Misogynistic:  Strongly prejudiced against women.

Nazi:  A person with extreme racist or authoritarian views.

Privilege:  A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.

Queer:  An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual.

Racism:  Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

Tyrannical:  Exercising power in a cruel or arbitrary way.  Characteristic of tyranny; oppressive and controlling.

Victum:  One who is harmed or killed by another, especially by someone committing a criminal or unlawful act: a victim of a mugging.

White Supremacist:   A white person who has the racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them.

Xenophobic:  Having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

In addition to watching who uses these words and how they use them, let us also remember as we all respectfully use our 1st Amendment Right of Free Speech, that with the right comes the responsibility to listen.  Even more, listening must mean we are willing to change.  We must be willing to let the other person, or the other argument, or the other viewpoint change us.  To think otherwise is not to listen. 

If we all come with a commitment to listen, we will indeed meet in “the middle of the road,” and we will build an incredibly strong COMMON SENSE FOR AMERICA.

Words should not be weapons.  They should be the way forward!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © [2020] by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

(REPEAT POST) BEACONS OF COMMON SENSE-The Middle of the Road

Below is a post from 2018 about "the middle of the road."  I had posted it "a few short months" before the fall election.  Now we are close to the 2020 election.  Not much has changed, and I still think the message hits the bulls-eye.  What you think?
--------------------------

In a few short months, another election will be here.  We the People will have another chance to “speak,” and tell our leaders what we want them to do.  

When we elect representatives in our American Democracy, we ask them to represent us because they come from us, and are like us.  They should do their work on behalf of us.  They should serve, not rule.  They should serve briefly and then make room for others.  They shouldn’t have perks, literally, they should have what we have, and live as we do.  They should be honest so we can respect them. 

It’s time to begin a new era!  Elective office is a public service opportunity, not a career.  (REPEAT).  Elective office is a public service opportunity, not a career.

So now, please join me in the middle of the American road with a new focus on possibility and potential.  Let’s not drive on the left or right shoulders, but travel down the middle of the road, where the language spoken is common sense supported by HONESTY AND PUBLIC SERVICE.  While the shoulders certainly define the outer limits or extremes of the road, and every road has its shoulders, they aren’t where we should be traveling down, and certainly not governing from.  

Just as the speed bumps on the shoulders can shake a car apart, literally shake a car apart, in some kind of grand intramural tug of war, the left and right are shaking our country apart.  IT’S DISGUSTING AND JUST PLAIN WRONG!  IT NEEDS TO STOP!

If we can find balance in the middle of the road, a destiny of continued blessings for each of us, and for America, will be assured.  Yes!  Let’s meet in the middle of the road where common sense lives.  Let’s use our right to free speech responsibly.   However, with the right comes the responsibility to listen.  Even more, listening must mean we are willing to change.  We must be willing to let the other person, or the other argument, or the other viewpoint change us.  If we all come with that commitment, we will indeed meet in “the middle of the road,” and continue building an incredibly strong Common Sense for America.

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2019 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.