by Zoe Pollock
Monica Potts comes to terms with the latent conservative within her when she plays video games:
As a Sim City expert, I can tell you that things function much more smoothly if taxes are low and city government caters to corporate interests. In the most recent version of the game, low-income housing is associated with higher crime rates, which necessitate more police stations. Low-income housing, however, packs in more workers per block, and I need all those workers in order to generate more revenue.
To keep them productive--if employees are unhappy, they go rogue, which, in the game's terms, means striking and shutting down their textile factories or meatpacking plants--I have to lull them into complacency with plenty of movie theaters, bowling allies, and pizza shops where they can "blow off steam." These workers produce until the city's coffers are full enough for me to raze their tenements and put in expensive brownstones instead.