🎓 Academic Assault and Affordable Housing: Democracy Under Fire on Two Fronts | BUCKMASTER
How Nazi Germany's university purge mirrors today's war on words, plus Pima County's pragmatic approach to homelessness
Based on the Buckmaster Show for 6/9/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, interviewing local newsmakers. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
A radio show talked to two smart people about big problems. 🎙️
One person helps run the county and is trying to build more affordable houses because lots of people don't have places to live. 🏘️ He's also helping homeless people by understanding why they sometimes say no to help—like not wanting to leave their pets behind. 🐾
The other person is a professor who studies history 📚 and is worried because some schools are being told they can't teach certain words anymore, kind of like what happened in Nazi Germany when bad people took over schools. 📜 Both guests think we need to be careful to protect people's homes and their right to learn the truth. 🏠🗣️
🗝️ Takeaways
🏘️ Pima County's $5M housing investment leverages 38-to-1 returns, proving government can work efficiently
🚫 Universities nationwide forced to scrub "woman," "climate change," and "inequality" from curricula
📊 Only 1 in 18 homeless individuals accept services due to practical barriers like pets and possessions
🎓 70% of Harvard students come from abroad—now threatened by visa restrictions
📖 Holocaust denial affects 30% of Americans, making historical documentation more crucial than ever
💰 Supervisor Cano boosted housing funding without raising property taxes through strategic compromise
Buckmaster's Monday Mix: Housing Heat and Academic Assault
Bill Buckmaster greeted another scorching Monday in June with his trademark glass-half-full perspective, declaring there's a "60% chance that we won't" hit 110 degrees this weekend.
But while Buckmaster spun meteorological roulette into feel-good math, his guests delivered sobering reality checks on everything from Pima County's housing crisis to the chilling parallels between Nazi Germany and today's authoritarian assault on American universities.
The show's dual themes—local governance grappling with basic human needs and academic freedom under siege—painted a picture of democracy under stress at every level. It's almost as if when people can't afford housing and universities fail to teach the truth, bad things happen to societies. Who could have predicted that?
Andres Cano: From District Aide to District Supervisor—Same Problems, New Authority
Newly appointed Pima County Supervisor Andres Cano brought a refreshing blend of institutional memory and Harvard-trained policy chops to Buckmaster's microphone.
Having started as an intern with the late Richard Elias in 2012, Cano has literally come full circle, now wielding the gavel in the same District 5 where he once answered constituent phone calls.
Housing: The Bedrock of Human Dignity
When Buckmaster pressed Cano about his lone Republican colleague Steve Christie's opposition to government-funded affordable housing, the supervisor didn't pull punches.
"I'm always going to respectfully disagree with the opinion that the county has no role in boosting our affordable housing stock," Cano stated, before launching into Economics 101 for conservatives: "I think that when we have regionally more than 30,000 units that have to be built to be able to bring costs down, I mean, this is a basic supply and demand issue."
Imagine that—a Democrat who actually understands basic economics better than the "free market" Republicans who somehow think housing shortages solve themselves through the magic of invisible hands and bootstrap-pulling.
Cano's data-driven approach shone when he cited Ferguson's Tucson Agenda research showing how Pima County's $5 million annual housing investment leverages into a "38 to 1" ratio, translating to "roughly $419 million in new development that's tied to just $11 million in county funding."
For those keeping score at home, that's government investment actually working—the kind of return on investment that would make any venture capitalist weep with envy. Yet, somehow, conservatives still call it wasteful spending.
The supervisor's nuanced position on a recent affordable housing proposal demonstrated the kind of fiscal responsibility progressives can embrace without abandoning their values.
"I don't believe that increasing property taxes in a time of economic uncertainty was the right proposal," he explained, describing how he helped craft an alternative that boosted housing funding by "about an additional $3 million" while doing it "without raising the primary property tax rate."
Revolutionary concept: You can be progressive AND fiscally responsible. Who knew that "tax and spend" wasn't the only tool in the Democratic toolkit?
But Cano's most compelling argument cut straight to the moral core:
"I believe that affordable housing is economic development. It is protecting quality of life. It is economic mobility. If people can't afford where they live, then we really are at an unfortunate point in our lives."
Homelessness: Beyond Bootstrap Theology
On the politically combustible issue of homelessness, Cano delivered the kind of clear-eyed analysis that cuts through both liberal hand-wringing and conservative cruelty. When Buckmaster noted that homeless individuals have typically been offered services, Cano painted the stark reality:
"Right now, most of the folks that we're seeking, we go into an encampment, and you see 18 people there. We're lucky to get one person saying yes."
But instead of falling into the tired conservative narrative of personal responsibility theater, Cano dug deeper into structural barriers:
"If you were living out on the street and you had a shopping cart of goods that you believed were your own... These are your toiletries... If you can't take that to a shelter, Bill, to sleep for a night or for a week, are you going to leave your stuff behind?"
The supervisor continued with another practical barrier that shelter-first advocates often ignore: "If you have a pet, a pet will not be allowed into a shelter space in most areas." Because apparently requiring people to abandon their only companions is somehow part of the path to stability. The cruelty is the point, as they say.
Cano's approach recognized both humanitarian and public safety concerns while refusing to dehumanize people experiencing homelessness:
"How are we going to love our neighbors? How are we going to uplift them? And how are we going to provide resources to them in the best way possible?"
Project Blue: Data Centers and Development Dilemmas
The mysterious "Project Blue"—potentially involving up to 10 data centers—represented the classic devil's bargain facing cash-strapped local governments. While details remained confidential, Cano outlined his evaluation criteria with refreshing specificity:
"Do they have a good wage for the folks they'll be having? Is it protecting our precious natural resources, including water, and protecting our air? Also, what's the long-term strategy?"
His wariness about corporate commitments reflected hard-learned lessons: "I think too often we've had employers come to our region, get a lot of incentives, and then unfortunately they disappear for whatever reason." Because nothing says economic development like handing out taxpayer-funded goodies to corporations that treat communities like disposable Kleenex.
Dr. Albrecht Classen: When Academic Freedom Meets Authoritarian Appetites
The University of Arizona's Renaissance man, Dr. Albrecht Classen, brought a kind of historical perspective that makes people very uncomfortable.
With 132 books and 810 articles documenting humanity's greatest hits and catastrophic failures, this medieval history scholar possesses the credentials to speak authoritatively about democracy's fragility.
Universities Under Siege: Echoes of Weimar
Classen's recent Arizona Daily Star op-ed warned of mounting threats to academic independence, drawing explicit parallels between Nazi Germany's systematic dismantling of its world-renowned university system and contemporary assaults on intellectual freedom.
Before Hitler's rise, "German universities were the envy of the world," Classen explained, with foundational research across all fields conducted in German.
It's almost as if authoritarian movements have a playbook, and "attack the universities" is Chapter One. But surely American exceptionalism will protect us from such Old World problems, right?
The transformation happened swiftly and systematically.
"Hitler came and used all kinds of spurious charges and anti-Semitism. And so very soon, all universities, really, every university, fell in line with the demands by the regime," Classen recounted.
The regime's strategy combined stick and carrot: "The regime exerted so much power and also offered bribes to anti-Semitic professors."
Bribes to bigoted professors? That could never happen here, where academic positions are always awarded purely on merit and definitely not influenced by political considerations or donor preferences.
The Modern Parallels: Euphemism and Erasure
Classen's most chilling example came from contemporary academia:
"A colleague of mine somewhere at a university on the East Coast who is teaching in the areas of women's studies has been told that in all of her syllabi, she has to remove the word ‘woman.’"
When Buckmaster pressed for clarification, Classen elaborated:
"The university told her it was a rather significant university on the East Coast that she had to remove the word woman from her entire syllabus."
The replacements?
"People, no gender, no sustainability, no climate change, no worries about our world, no inequality, no words about racism, no words about anti-Semitism."
Because clearly the best way to solve inequality is to pretend it doesn't exist. It's like treating cancer by banning the word "tumor." Genius-level strategy, really.
Even the University of Arizona hasn't escaped the purge: "All the ethnic student groups have been merged together. I think it's now just called a huge lump group student center, a cultural center for students." Nothing says "celebrating diversity" like erasing all distinctions and creating one big beige blob of non-threatening cultural neutrality.
The Brain Drain Begins
Perhaps most alarming is the potential restriction on international students, particularly the targeting of Harvard's foreign enrollment.
"70% of Harvard students come from abroad," Classen noted, warning that forcing universities to exclude international students would make them "buckle under, just obey."
Because nothing says "America First" like deliberately making America dumber. It's almost as if the goal isn't actually national strength but institutional submission.
Classen highlighted the historical irony:
"Actually that was one of the greatest times for American universities because many of these brilliant names think about Albert Einstein, you know, left Germany because of the Nazi regime and of course came here to this country and laid the foundation for a glorious four or five decades of research here in this country."
So we built our academic supremacy on refugees fleeing authoritarianism, and now we're... checks notes... embracing authoritarianism to drive away the next generation of brilliant minds. The circle of stupidity is complete.
Holocaust Remembrance in an Age of Denial
Classen's recent translation work takes on urgent relevance given rising Holocaust denial. His translation of a German Jewish nurse's concentration camp memoir provides, in his words, "the most powerful evidence, of course, the Holocaust happened. Of course, I mean, it's just absurd even to even think that it might not have happened."
With an estimated 30% of Americans questioning Holocaust reality, apparently "never again" has morphed into "never mind" for a disturbing chunk of the population.
The nurse's story exemplifies the cruel randomness of survival. Her husband had been "an officer in the German army during World War I. He had lost one of his legs. He earned the Iron Cross, so highly decorated, and for that reason, the family thought they would be able to stay. They would be safe, they were not safe."
Because meritocracy and patriotic service always protect you from systemic oppression, right? Just ask all the military veterans currently experiencing homelessness how well their service shielded them from society's failures.
The Thread That Binds: Democracy Under Stress
What connects Cano's housing battles and Classen's academic warnings?
Both illustrate how democracy's foundations—from basic human needs to intellectual freedom—require constant vigilance and principled leadership. When institutions fail to meet people's basic needs (such as housing) or protect fundamental freedoms (like academic inquiry), authoritarian alternatives become dangerously appealing.
It's almost as if there's a connection between material conditions and political outcomes. Who could have predicted that desperate people might embrace desperate solutions?
Cano's pragmatic progressivism and Classen's historical wisdom converge on the same truth: effective governance necessitates both addressing immediate needs and safeguarding long-term democratic values. The supervisor wrestling with homelessness and the professor translating Holocaust testimonies are fighting the same battle on different fronts.
What Do You Think?
How can communities balance fiscal responsibility with the moral imperative to house everyone? And when universities face pressure to sanitize curricula, what responsibility do faculty, students, and citizens have to resist?
More pointedly: If we know how authoritarian movements dismantle democratic institutions, why do we keep watching it happen as if it's some novel surprise? Share your thoughts below, especially if you're seeing similar tensions between pragmatic governance and ideological pressure in your own community.
The heat waves and political storms will continue, but conversations like these remind us that local voices matter enormously. Democracy doesn't die in darkness—it suffocates in silence. Keep talking, keep questioning, and keep demanding better.
Want more incisive analysis of the stories that matter to our community? Support independent journalism by subscribing to Three Sonorans on Substack. Your support keeps this critical coverage coming and helps us hold power accountable to the people it's supposed to serve.
Quotes:
"I believe that affordable housing is economic development. It is protecting the quality of life. It is economic mobility." - Andres Cano, defending the government's role in housing
"A colleague of mine somewhere at a university on the east coast who is teaching in the areas of women's studies has been told that in all of her syllabi she has to remove the word ‘woman.’" - Dr. Albrecht Classen, on academic censorship
"We go into an encampment, and you see 18 people there. We're lucky to get one person saying yes." - Andres Cano, on homeless service refusal rates
"70% of Harvard students come from abroad. That means he wants to force Harvard to buckle under, just obey." - Dr. Classen, on international student restrictions
"German universities were the envy of the world... But then Hitler came and used all kinds of spurious charges and anti-Semitism." - Dr. Classen, drawing historical parallels
"If people can't afford where they live, then we really are at an unfortunate point in our lives." - Andres Cano, on housing as basic necessity
People Mentioned:
Bill Buckmaster - Radio host, 14.5 years hosting, 37 years in Tucson media
Andres Cano - Pima County District 5 Supervisor, former Arizona House Minority Leader, Harvard MPA graduate
"How are we going to love our neighbors? How are we going to uplift them?"
John - Show engineer/producer (behind the glass)
Richard Elias - Late Pima County Supervisor, Cano's former boss
Buckmaster: "I miss Richard a lot"
Steve Christy - Lone Republican Pima County Supervisor, opposes government housing role
Atalita Grijalva - Former District 5 supervisor who resigned to run for Congress
Joe Ferguson - Tucson Agenda reporter who provided housing investment data
Dr. Albrecht Classen - UA Distinguished Professor, 132 books published, Fulbright Scholar
"Universities always have been the thorn in the side of authoritarian regimes"
Supervisor Heinz - Proposed property tax increase for housing (unclear first name)
Albert Einstein - Mentioned as example of Nazi refugee who boosted US academia
Donald Trump - Current president (referenced for university attacks)
Adolf Hitler - Historical parallel for authoritarian university takeover
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
I find it difficult to accept Jewish exceptionalism given the holocaust they themselves are perpetuating in Palestine.
To present a course on female human beings without mentioning a taboo word that applies to those people is like playing football (or soccer if you prefer) without being allowed to kick the ball.