Holidays
Daily Ramble
Holidays. That’s the word that’s used here in Europe to describe vacation. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a European utter “vacation”, come to think of it. From a US perspective, it’s a common object of envy to bag on the number of holidays Europeans get. Public holidays here in Portugal amount to 14 compared to the US’s 10. That’s not such a big difference when you consider the Portuguese have had an extra 500 years of history to accumulate a scant 4 extra holidays.
The point that gets Americans up in arms is the mandatory 22 days of paid leave employees receive. Wha-what?! That’s right, 22 days of paid leave or 4.4 weeks. I’ve heard Americans trashing on Europeans as lazy for having such a luxurious amount of time to holiday, but if that’s not envy speaking, I’ll shutup directly. Who doesn’t want to have more than 4 weeks to break from the job? Can you imagine a society that prioritizes relaxing as part of its routine? Maybe that would make a culture that’s more relaxed, appreciative of the small things in life, kinder to one another, and even enjoy their jobs more…. Terrible idea to consider.
I’ll take my tongue out of my cheek now to mention the downside — the time off has got to be paid for by someone. The way most businesses get out from the expense is to have as many employees as possible be contractors. Despite the arms-length relationship, even if it’s not paid vacation, more Portuguese still take the time to disconnect and recharge for at least a few weeks each year. And yeah, the culture does have all those characteristics you can imagine as a result.
Favorite Thing on the Interwebs Today
Metallic Hydrogen. The simplest element on the periodic table can now be turned into a metal used to propels us more quickly across the universe. I love me some good Star Trek-esque news.
Bitcoin Price
Friday’s price range prediction: $18.3k - $15.8k
Todays’ price range prediction: $17.8k - $19.5k
Friday stayed within the predicted range with prices climbing from a low of $16.9k to a high of $17.9k. The surprise came over the weekend with the price recovering much of its 17% loss. Currently, the price is trading at $18.6k and looks poised to push higher to challenge the $20k all-time high shortly….or set a lower high and reverse. By the end of today, we’ll know if we’re in a recovery push or have more consolidation ahead.
Bitcoin Bite
We left off Friday with the question: who decided that Bitcoin was able to store value like a digital form of gold? To answer that question, we’ve got to bore down the decentralization tunnel a bit further. Decentralization software, which we talked about Friday, is one thing, but what’s less obvious is that having decentralized software leads to a decentralized group of people using the software, i.e. a decentralized social network.
A decentralized social network is not something we’ve got much experience with. We’re used to centralized organizations where there is a leader that speaks for the group. Without a unified voice to speak, Bitcoin relies on a chorus of voices. Many yell ludicrous things but eventually, the chorus starts singing in tune as an accepted narrative emerges. The process is slow but leads to a robust narrative and belief system. That’s how we’ve arrived at Bitcoin being a digital store of value. Through decentralization. Pretty amazing really.
Thanks for reading,
Kent
Got questions about Bitcoin, Portugal, or anything else I’m writing about? Drop me a line!