To. Saltnfire
“Bro, your place was doing fine. You had regulars. People liked it. Why did you suddenly shut it down and leave ?
A former regular from my old pub sent me that message. I’ve heard the same question many times. Why did you close a fine business? Let me be honest. I didn’t leave because I failed. I ran because I wanted to survive.
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. This essay reflects my personal experience and philosophy.
1. Dinosaurs, Animals, and Flies
One day, society suddenly looked like a giant food chain. Dinosaurs eat animals. Animals eat flies. Flies eat other flies.
- The state squeezes the banks.
- The banks squeeze the landlords.
- The landlords squeeze the tenants.
- The tenants squeeze the customers.
Everyone looks like a villain. But in truth, everyone is just trying not to die. That’s when I realized: This isn’t a competition game. It’s an escape game. The winner is whoever gets out first.
2. The Cry of a $9 Million Asset Holder
My landlord looked rich on paper. A small building in central Seoul. A large apartment. Several regional shops. Land in an industrial zone. Rough estimate: over $9 million in assets. And yet, he kept saying the same thing: “I have no money.” At first, I thought it was rich-man whining. Then I saw his tax bills and loan statements. That wasn’t whining. That was screaming.
- Property and holding taxes in the hundreds of thousands each year.
- Mortgages at 45% LTV, with rising interest rates.
- Even with $12,000 in monthly rent, taxes and interest ate almost everything.
- National health insurance fee: Max. (Because he is rich !)
He wasn’t an owner. He was a custodian, serving his own assets for life.
3. “Raise the Rent 50%, or Get Out”
From the state’s perspective, real estate is perfect prey.
- You can’t hide it. Everything is registered.
- You can’t move it. You can’t carry it across borders.
- You can’t divide it. You can’t sell a bathroom wall when you need cash.
My landlord was trapped in a liquidity prison.
- Sell — and lose half to capital gains tax.
- Hold — and bleed from property taxes.
- Die — and lose half again to inheritance tax.
A perfect Catch-22. So he made a bad move. He borrowed more to buy another shop in a regional city. The economy crashed. The shop stayed empty. Now he had only one option left: Squeeze the existing tenants. One day he said:
“Raise the rent by 50%. Or I’ll take over the shop myself. Leave.”
I could’ve fought legally. But I didn’t. Because what I saw on his face wasn’t greed. It was fear. A ninety-year-old man shaking over a few hundred dollars, trying to protect his entire life’s worth of assets. I chose not to hate him. The board itself was broken. The state squeezes landlords. Landlords squeeze tenants. Tenants squeeze customers. Although the South Korean government is ideologically run by communists, they likely understand the reality, given that they have nonetheless generated wealth within a capitalist market. Specifically, they are surely aware that because the supply of economic goods like land and real estate is fixed, increasing taxes on them is shifted onto tenants. Despite this knowledge, the reason they continue to squeeze resources in this manner is likely that the state itself lacks the funds necessary to dispense welfare.
That day, I decided. There are no winners in this game. I’m getting out.
4. So I Ran
I closed the pub. Liquidated most of my Korean assets. And moved to Georgia. Then I converted what remained into Bitcoin. I’m not a patriot. Not a revolutionary. Just a coward who wanted to live.
If I stayed, the better my business performed, the deeper the system would trap me. More revenue. More taxes. More regulations. More surveillance. Work harder, get locked in tighter. I chose to leave the board before becoming dinosaur food.
5. Why Bitcoin?
My friends ask: Why something so risky? Isn’t it risky? Yes. It is risky. But I don’t see Bitcoin as an investment. I see it as a survival tool.
- Divisible — I sell what I need. Not an entire building.
- Portable — My wealth crosses borders with a USB stick.
- Zero maintenance — No taxes, no repairs, no insurance.
If real estate chains you to the ground, Bitcoin gives flies wings to escape dinosaurs. And I believe ‘dinosaurs’ is much more risky.
6. Who Really Wins?
I’m not rich. I’m an unknown writer in a foreign town. My income is unstable. But strangely, my mind is calm. Because I have little left to lose. Daniel Kahneman proved it: Humans feel the pain of losing twice as strongly as the joy of gaining.
My former landlord is still fighting. With banks. With taxes. With tenants. And one day, with inheritance laws. His war never ends. He’s not fighting to make more money. But fighting to keep it from being taken away. That’s why he’s suffering.
In this game, the winner isn’t the richest. It’s the one who can move. The one who can disappear.
7. I’m Still Running
So no, I didn’t quit because I failed. I quit because I escaped. Not to earn more. But to lose less. To stay off the radar. To stay out of other people’s traps. I’m still running. With Bitcoin. With my freedom.
From. Saltnfire
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