August 22, 2016 | Gunner Steele

There are few things that bring people of a nation together like the Olympics—particularly in places like America where we are certainly "more divided than ever." There's just something about watching fellow Americans compete in a veritable "best of the best" competition against all of the nations in the world.

Maybe its pride. Maybe its arrogance. Maybe there's just something in us that wants to show everyone else how much better we are than them. I don't know. What I do know is this—I just love seeing Americans, wearing red, white, and blue, SMASH the competition in the Olympics.

And the funny thing is that with few exceptions, we generally have NO IDEA who these athletes are until the Olympics are on. And even then, we don't really know who they are. We just know they're wearing Red, White, and Blue and we can see the American Flag next to their name on the screen. And that's all that matters!

These athletes, combined with the nature of the Olympics, have the power to bring a divided America back together—even if its just for a few brief moments, and make us all proud to be American again!

And guess how Uncle Sam rewards these Olympic heroes for their accomplishments? With a big fat tax bill! That's how. You see, most nations of the world reward their Olympic winners with cash bonuses. For example, in US Dollars, a Gold Medal winner from Italy will earn $185,000. In Indonesia they pay $383,000. And in Singapore its a whopping $753,000 (which is $1 million Singaporean dollars). The difference is that most nations do not tax their winners (and many of them subsidize the training process).

In America, the US Olympics committee gives out $25,000 for a Gold Medal, $15,000 for Silver, and $10,000 for Bronze. But that means nothing. First of all, those dollar amounts are meaningless compared to the cost and effort they've put in to compete in the Olympics in the first place.

But more importantly, they'll never keep all of that since here, in what was once the Land of the Free, the IRS will be the first ones to greet our American heroes when they return home. And for the big names like Michael Phelps, who have endorsements and are in the highest tax bracket, they will pay upwards of $9,900 for each Gold Medal. Some are estimating that Michael Phelps tax bill for this years Olympics will be over $55,000! In America, we call it a "Victory Tax." I mean, why not? We have a marriage tax and various taxes on success in business and life, so it makes sense to have a tax on your victories too, right?

And let this be a lesson to you. You see, at their core (barring Providence or the intentional involvement of honorable men), all governments are the same. They are power-hungry agents of corruption who use force to enrich themselves and their elite associates by oppressing others by any means possible. Typically, the most successful means of oppression is financial oppression through heavy taxation or manipulation of the value of currency.

In other words, to government, its citizens are nothing more than dairy cows. They believe their citizens are the property of the state, who exist to be milked of every ounce of production they have, to have no purpose or existence beyond their milk product, and once they cease to produce, they are to be killed for their meat and leather hides.

So live it up Michael Phelps! Enjoy your temporary glory Katie Ledecky! Smile big for the cameras, Simone Biles. And all the rest of you Olympic superstars. Sure, you gave your entire life to master your craft, to hone your skills, to refine your talent, and to maximize your potential for victory. And once on the world stage, you demonstrated your superiority and brought Americans together, making us all feel proud to be Americans again.

But just like the businessmen and American entrepreneurs who have done the same in the world of business as you've done in the world of Athletics, you will never be seen as anything more than a Dairy Cow to your government. Just an Olympic Dairy Cow.

Until next Monday,
I'm yours in Freedom
Gunner Steele

P.S. If you want to be inspired, you absolutely have to see Katie Ledecky completely dust the competition in the 800m Freestyle. Not only does she break the world record (which was previously held by herself), but she beats the silver medalist by over 11 seconds! How is that even possible?