Articles written by David Thill

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About me - David Thill

David Thill is a quietly unassuming young man living in Vancouver, BC. He has never met a word he did not like, but unfortunately this has resulted in less positive impact on his dating success than you might imagine.

I used to struggle against a lamentable

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Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Should lawmakers free us from market forces by controlling gas prices?: 1 of 25
I don't know what kind of amazing lawmakers you have in your state, or what sort of genius you're sending to Congress with your vote every election, but the ones I elect seem hardly qualified to control their own personal lives, let alone one of the most critical parts of the whole economy.You might as well ask "do you honest... More..
Politics, News & Issues > International Politics (Other) Assessing Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper's conservative government: 1 of 9
Minority governments are always a test of skill, timing, and the ability to compromise. They generally do not last long, and often accomplish little as any legislation requires the consent, or at least the passive acceptance, of an opposition party.Against the standard of previous minority governments, Stephen Harper's term h... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Economy How to lower the price of fuel: 2 of 14
For any commodity, there are two ways to lower the price paid by a consumer: increase the supply of the commodity, or lower the demand for the commodity.When it comes to fuel, we tend to think "Hey, there's only so much oil in the ground" and stop thinking about supply right there. However, fuel is more than just old petroche... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Should each nation use its own currency or adopt an international currency?: 1 of 7
In today's world, most nations choose to produce and support a currency of their own, rather than join a multi-nation currency such as theEuro, or adopt the currency of another nation (as Ecuador has done with the American dollar). There are good reasons for this, and except in a few instances, it makes more sense to retain t... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Understanding democracy: 12 of 73
Winston Churchill said that "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried."The purpose of government is to ensure that tasks vital to the needs of society are accomplished, when those tasks cannot or would not be performed by other forces in society. In order to establish a govern... More..
Politics, News & Issues > International Politics (Other) Is Russia under Vladimir Putin a democracy?: 2 of 10
On the spectrum from "Democracy" to "Totalitarianism," Putin Russia has steadily moved in the direction of a totalitarian system.The defining characteristic of a democratic state is that most of the citizens of the state are given a variety of different ways to feel that their government is acting on their behalf, and at thei... More..
Arts & Humanities > Fantasy & Science Fiction Book reviews: The Dune series, by Frank Herbert: 1 of 5
The six books of the Dune series, written by Frank Herbert, have earned their place as one of the great works of speculative fiction.The series is universe-creation on a grand scale. Dozens of characters, hundreds of plot lines, thousands of years and trillions of inhabitants populate the pages of the series. The story teems ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > International Politics (Other) America as the new Rome: 4 of 16
At its peak, the Roman Empire spread from Britain to the Middle East, including over 50 million people speaking dozens of different mother tongues, unified by one second language, Latin, one political system, and one powerful cultural ideal. Although there is little real parallel between the Roman Empire and the power the Uni... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues The different types of renewable energy: 6 of 21
When you think about it, all types of renewable energy are actually a form of solar power.The most obvious way in which this is true is with the two types of primary solar power, photovoltaic cells like the black panels we can put up on our own roofs, and solar thermal farms which focus heat and light from the sun onto condui... More..
Arts & Humanities > History (Other) Arguments against slavery reparations: 2 of 7
Two wrongs don't make a right. Trite, yes. True, nonetheless.There probably exists somewhere some mouth-frothing crazy-eyed person with a series of twisted justifications for the historical existence of slavery, but let's just go out on a limb here and take it as a given that slavery is wrong. It is usually a good idea to mak... More..