ABOMINATIONS and ETHICS (two poems)

Picture of an unusual Garden of Eden

  ABOMINATIONS by David Ray The vote was a hundred to one, a clear majority. At the stroke of midnight, no more death, at least in the style we have come to know and love. For the next thousand years, walled in like a garden, we will contrive another style altogether, think up other names …

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Luddites 3.0

Detail of engraving showing the original Luddites

I. INTENTIONS Technological Progress: have you ever heard of it? Yes, I know, lots of folks have. Marketers have made sure of this. We are bombarded with reports of it every day, by thousands of advertisements. We are told that this year’s new car is “better than” last year’s new car, and many reasons are …

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Six West

Image of the number 6 on a sign from the building site

A New Housing Model for Tucson There is a nationwide conversation about low cost housing solutions. In cities like Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas, low income residents have taken the initiative to create their own villages. Here in Tucson, we are just starting the conversation. Some discussion took place within the Occupy Tucson movement, which …

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Tucson: Cutting-edge of the Precariat?

rich, monopoly-man caricature hauling recognizable Tucson icons (Tucson Inn, saguaro cactus, city hall) in a wheelbarrow as he pushes down a ladder with a mother on it as her children look on.

OCCUPIED TUCSON CITIZEN When people talk about a “cutting edge” economy, how often are they thinking of Tucson? Probably not very often. Given our low-wage economy and our ranking as the 6th poorest city in the United States, a lot of other places, such as Silicon Valley, would come to mind first. But as an …

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