Caretakers for the Taxman

by Henry Schulte

American “Homeowners” are Simply Caretakers for the Taxman

We’re all caretakers. The truth is none of us ever owns anything. Our homes, cars, land, guitars, jewelry, you name it. While we’re alive we get to appreciate our homes, our land, and play with our toys, but we don’t own them. Because we will all leave with empty pockets.

We won’t even have pockets.

Having entered the fourth quarter in life, or as a neighbor recently told me, I’m on the back nine. He says I should hope I’m on hole number ten and not seventeen.

My father “owned” quite a few acres of land along the Gaviota Coast. He’s also the one who told me what I said above. He was only the caretaker. Up to that point I never thought about it. Yet it is a truth I’ve come to know and use as my own mantra.

Those of us who “own” homes are merely permitted to live there paying our mortgages, because if you have a home loan, you don’t own the place you sleep in; the bank does. They’re the caretakers of the money they “loaned” you and you’re the caretaker of the house and the land it sits on. Add insult to injury as the saying goes, you get to pay taxes on that land you don’t own. Even if you own the land outright, you still must pay for the privilege of living there.

If taxes are so high you can’t afford to live in “your” home anymore, tough luck.

The Ukraine Train to Nowhere

Where am I going with this, you ask? I asked myself the same thing when I wrote the first line. And then I started thinking about the wars that have taken place since man evolved on this planet. I don’t believe there has ever been a period in time where earth hasn’t had a conflict of some kind going on somewhere.

No nation, no country, no leader, no king, or dictator has title to the land they reign over. Every nation is a caretaker of its domain and watch over it for the betterment of the people who live within its borders. And therein lies the problem. No one is ever happy with what they have. For whatever reason, it’s human nature to want more. From taking over nations (and killing millions in the process), to wanting another car, or in my case another guitar that I don’t even remotely need.

Putin decided to invade Ukraine for what I can only guess has more to do with its assets than simply just wanting more property. In doing so he became responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives on both sides of the fence.

Then a big chunk of Americans got snookered into jumping on the Ukraine train. As we funneled billions to a man no one really knew with no idea where it was going, the Ukraine/Russia war became another divider; like how people took sides over vaccine and masks.

We’re uncovering the same thing with Zelensky, though many of us did exercise caution and refused to get pulled in. Zelensky admitted he doesn’t know where half the money he received from the U.S. went.

Great!

Another Biden boondoggle we paid for.

Enter Trump

Trump came up with a plan to justify helping Ukraine via a mineral rights proposal. We all saw how that went. Zelensky forgot he’s Ukraine’s caretaker and is supposed to do the best he can for the people counting on him, not to continue begging for more money to keep a war going.

Zelensky is short-sighted on what the long-term benefit of the deal would be for his people, and knowing Trump, though it looks dead, the deal may still happen. On the other side of the equation there is of course Putin. He’s also been doing an abysmal job of taking care of the land he’s supposed to oversee.

Putin is a much different animal than the former comedian and actor, Zelensky (I know, I can hear it already, what about Reagan and Trump?) Putin is shrewd, smart, cunning, dangerous. Murder doesn’t bother him and therefore sacrificing the lives of so many young people to fight his war, gives him no guilt. And unlike Zelensky, Putin and Trump know how to negotiate, even among enemies.

Trump is about as transparent a president as there has ever been. And I’m going to make a guess (based on nothing) that a verbal deal or plan with Putin has already been made, or at the very least suggested. Putin is sitting back and allowing Trump to reach an agreement with Ukraine to provide him the out he needs to save face. Zelensky’s ungrateful insolence after all we’ve done for him likely even caught Putin off guard.

Neither Lender nor Borrower Be

All those who blindly got sucked in – again, just like Covid – believe Zelensky is the victim and that Trump bullied him. Trump is the caretaker of America right now and he’s proving he really intends to be just that; he feels obligated to protect us American citizens and the land we’re sitting on.

Many of us have given or “lent” a friend or family member money, a lawn mower, some tools. Often those acts of kindness don’t work out so well. The best way to make an enemy is to loan him something.

This thing with Zelensky isn’t about Putin, it’s about another man looking for handouts. After giving him a ton of loot and weapons, he provided no receipts and had the audacity to hold back a “Thank you.” So many have been – and continue to be – programmed to believe that there’s some kind of love affair between Putin and Trump that they’re willing to side with another country over their own.

Saving America is a group effort. Get on the American train. If you don’t like it here, I’m sure Zelensky would be happy to give you a gun (that U.S. taxpayers paid for) and fight Russia.

You can become a caretaker of Ukraine.

Good luck!

Or, as they’d say in Kyiv, “Удачі”

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