Rhys Knight's Blog, page 3

Bitcoin’s Biggest Problem is Also it’s Greatest Strength

Bitcoin, the Bastian of the free market economy and demonstration of supply and demand in its purest sense has seen something of a renaissance, followed by a fall, if not to earth, then certainly partially. The currency has been vilified by the news media, edified by analysts and after every slump and spike there is the inevitable, “I told you so,” from both sides.

Bitcoin will continue to fluctuate, but it’s the nature of the fluctuations that should have investors concerned. You see, bitcoin isn’t underpinned by any tangible economy or product — it simply ebbs and flows on the winds of rumour, innuendo and market intelligence, and nobody can tell which is more important at the moment.

The latest evidence of this was following recent announcements from the South Korean government in relation to potentially banning cryptocurrencies in order to limit North Korea’s ability to make money. North Korea of course, is rumoured to have profited from legal and illegal actions as the value of bitcoin rose. The response from the market was swift and the value of the cryptocurrency plummeted, briefly corrected and then plummeted some more. The crucial point is that no formal action had been taken by South Korea, and while concerns of this type are usually met with a firm response from the market, the sustained nature of the slump in relation to the size of the market that bitcoin actually inhabits was disproportionate to say the least.

In order to remove these ebbs and flows, bitcoin will need to be underpinned by something of tangible value, which removes the strength of the currency in the first place. As the market continues to work out exactly what bitcoin is, how it will work and, interestingly, as other currencies enter the market and slowly chip away at bitcoin’s dominance, the investment component will remain the wild west. The question is, once stability is achieved will bitcoin still be viable?

Bitcoin’s Biggest Problem is Also it’s Greatest Strength was originally published in Australian Investor on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Treatment for all Mental Illness Should be Free

Photo by Lily Lvnatikk on Unsplash

Yesterday, some clown in Melbourne decided it was a good idea to miss his psychiatric appointment and plough his car into a group of innocent pedestrians. Amazingly, nobody was killed and the man is now in custody.

This guy is not a victim — he’s a domestic terrorist — which is a name deserved by all people who attempt to kill others in a public place. If you create terror; you’re a terrorist.

But how do we prevent this from happening again, besides banning cars or enclosing footpaths entirely so that walking to work feels like a visit to the aquarium?

We confront mental illness as a society, with money. Shitloads of money.

It’s estimated that just under 20% of the population of the Western world suffers from some form of mental illness during their lives. Almost a quarter of the world is directly impacted by depression, anxiety or something more serious. Indirectly, families and friends of sufferers try to find a way to make sense of it, because there’s no rulebook when your partner comes home and crawls into a ball in the corner of the bedroom and rocks back and forth.

Trust me, I’ve been that ball, and statistically, you know someone who has been too — perhaps you.

And yet, despite conservative estimates putting the financial impact of mental illness in the billions and the number of lost lives through suicide continually rising, what are we really doing about it?

Charities do their best.

The Government says nice things.

But caring and asking ‘are you okay’ isn’t a solution to the problem. These people don’t need to be asked about their stability, they need a journey from awareness of an illness through to treatment and ongoing support.

And it should be easy to understand and free of charge. The treatment should be carried out by psychiatrists who can prescribe antidepressants and these should also be heavily subsidised.

Because you really don’t want to see someone coming off fluoxetine without a tapering off plan.

Mental illnesses are acknowledged as diseases, and yet unlike other conditions where treatment plans and diagnostic processes are easily understood, depression and anxiety treatments are still shrouded in mystery.

Go to your GP, get a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist and then…

Even if the treatment works, if you need ongoing support past a limited government rebate period it gets really expensive, and then the easiest thing to do is to stop treatment or skip a few appointments.

It’s no good talking about domestic terrorism after the fact. The driver in Melbourne injured others and deserves to be punished, but others like him need more support and understanding, not only from the community but — far more importantly — from the government and health services.

A clearly laid out process for diagnosis.

A free treatment program.

A free ongoing support program.

Something as simple — and expensive — as this would improve the lives of almost a quarter of our population and make the rest of us safer.

Treatment for all Mental Illness Should be Free was originally published in rhysknightblog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Trump’s Not Scary — But Pence Terrifies Me

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Donald Trump is a weird old man whose crazy mood swings and insane justifications can be easily explained:

He’s old, weird, crazy and insane. And no, crazy and insane are not the same thing and yes, Trump is both.

But behind the throne stands something much scarier. Not crazy or even slightly confused, Mike Pence is a horrifying mix of right-wing extremism and Bible-bashing so old-school that it makes television evangelists cringe.

We all know about the big terrifying things that Pence believes — he thinks gay people can be fixed by the use of ‘conversion therapy,’ he famously said he doesn’t drink alcohol near other women if his wife isn’t present and loves guns as much as his extreme homophobia would suggest that he loves cock.

But, like Hitler in the 1930’s, who claimed he was not the leader, but the drummer of the cause, it isn’t what Pence says that’s scary, it’s what he doesn’t say. Pence’s communication is measured when he needs to be, agreeing with Trump on issues of political usefulness and his responses are tempered when he could find himself alienated from his core conservative base. Following Trump’s famously divisive comments after the Charlottesville massacre, when he said that,

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”

Pence responded with,

“Mr Trump has been clear on this tragedy. I stand with the president.”

This comment satisfied the Trump voters and right-wing assholes on which Pence will rely in his bid for the presidency.

But he continued:

“…we are also praying that in America we will not allow the few to divide the many. The strength of the United States of America is always strongest, as the President has said so eloquently when we are united around our shared values.”

And reporters fell straight into the trap, referring to Pence as a ‘safe pair of hands,’ a ‘calming influence,’ and other bullshit that did well to position him as the antithesis of Trump.

He’s the Trump and the un-Trump in one tidy little hate-filled package of well-groomed shit.

Trump is scary because he’s a madman with a button, but there are smart people who can make sure he never gets to push it. Teams of intelligent and experienced people for whom which stopping grandad trying to kill the horrible foreigners is a simple game of distraction.

But Pence won’t be distracted.

He’s smart, ruthless and cunning. Mix that with a genuine and indoctrinated hatred for anyone who doesn’t fit into his idealised version of 1950’s America that never existed and you’ve got a monster waiting to spread misery on a significant portion of an unsuspecting and potentially a not even voting population.

Trump’s Not Scary — But Pence Terrifies Me was originally published in rhysknightblog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.