Mediterranean hegemon

Due to various changes that have been delayed, Contini's wish to go to North Africa was not realized until June because he was not only facing graduation, but also facing Adriana giving birth to a child. He had to take care of both emotions and reasons first. , so he had to postpone his trip to North Africa until July. At that time, the last batch of oil guards would rush to North Africa, and they could go together.

In fact, given Contini's current status, it doesn't matter if he doesn't attend the graduation ceremony. However, firstly, the President has been absent from school for many years and rarely shows his face. If he misses the graduation ceremony again, he will look down on the school. Secondly, Contini has recently been absent from school. The combination punches launched on the ideological and ideological front were somewhat aggressive, and some even injured well-known professors at the University of Rome, including professors from the Department of History and Law, who had to be comforted; thirdly, many students were eager to get to know the president, and the school also I hope he can speak at the graduation ceremony, and he can't help but give this honor.

Generally speaking, everyone thinks that the president is quite complicated: although he is polite, courteous, and gentle at first glance, he is very tough in the field of politics and serious thoughts. He is known as the "Steel President". A group of intellectuals also respect and fear him, because Contini does not play dirty tricks like other politicians. His methods are all public. If you don't agree, please leave! A quarrel? A pen fight? The CEO is very eloquent and well-written. He also controls the public opinion of countless news media across the country. He even controls the IBC. In addition, Dr. Goebbels is behind him, and his combat power is explosive throughout Italy. In addition to word of mouth, He can't deal with rumors, but he can deal with other academic, political, and editorial comments.

As for the media and other groups that dare to confront them, the president has another big stick: litigating! Speaking of going to court with the CEO, everyone is really afraid of it. Not to mention that the judicial system has begun to become fascist. You can't even afford the legal fees. After all, there is only one person in Italy who takes money improperly like Contini. .

So everyone watched Contini’s speech at the graduation ceremony with mixed emotions, and listened to his ups and downs in defending himself:

"...Some people say that I suppress different voices, and some say that our party is homogeneous and opposes dissent. That's right! That's what I do! I will suppress any voice that is not conducive to fascism and the unity of the Italian people. Any voice that is not in line with the leader If you don’t maintain a highly consistent political opinion with the government, I will definitely take action to clean it up! The reason I made it very clear is that being rich but not free is not a slogan, it is a real action! Most Italian people do not have such a high level of education and literacy. They don't understand the origin of multiculturalism and pluralism. Just like a child, he needs guidance and guidance from his parents. Do you discuss the future and development of children with underage children?

If Italy wants to become a big and powerful country, it urgently needs to improve its own strength, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen cohesion and unity. The existence of multiple ideas not only fails to achieve this goal, but is harmful to the realization of this goal. Everyone, for the vast majority of For most people, a stronger country, a more stable society, a more prosperous economy, and a happier society are the goals they pursue. As for freedom? Sorry, what is that?

After Fascist came to power, although we have tightened the ideological field and interfered with freedom, our achievements have attracted worldwide attention:

Italian trains are on time or almost on time;

Italy's economy is soaring at an annual growth rate of 11-12%, which is faster than the growth rates of Britain, France, and the United States combined;

Italy’s unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 37% to less than 10%;

The rapid railway started from scratch and now has the longest running mileage in Europe;

The civil aviation system has grown from scratch and is now the fourth in Europe;

The highways have grown from scratch, surpassing the United Kingdom, and are now the third in Europe, and are relatively close to France. Considering that France is twice our area and has half as many people as we are, Italy has the second highest highway density per capita in Europe. ;

Various products such as steel, cement, machinery, and metallurgy have generally increased by 50%-100%, and the gap with major powers is narrowing;

We have built more than 13 million square meters of new housing, our number of college students has expanded by 20%, 90% of those who are out of school due to poverty in secondary and higher education have disappeared, and the coverage of compulsory education has increased by 25%...

During the same period, our currency remained basically stable, the national fiscal deficit shrank slightly year after year, the arrears of civil servants' and teachers' salaries were repaid, and the salaries of junior college teachers were increased by more than 40%!

We also had a victory in Corfu!

These are the results of regulation, the results of prosperity but not freedom!

Without Fascist coming to power, without this control, without the unified leadership of the leader, Italy would have greater freedom. What freedom?

The freedom of late trains!

Economic backwardness, widespread corruption, high unemployment, and social unrest are free!

The value of the currency has plummeted, the deficit is getting bigger and bigger, and speculation has destroyed the prevailing freedom!

The freedom of national power to decline, to be weak externally, and to be bullied by others!

If you are not deaf or blind, you only need to look at Germany's performance to know. In the past, our intellectuals kept saying that the Second Reich had no freedom, that it was dictatorial and reactionary. But later it got better. The German people have freedom and they have lost their territory. freedom! There is freedom to disband the army! Have the freedom to have your finances monitored! The freedom to have the economy plummet! People are free to starve and be unemployed! No patriotic German wants this kind of freedom and democracy! Wasn’t the education of the Ruhr crisis profound enough? Do you want the Ruhr crisis to happen again in Italy?

In the past, we in Italy all thought about going to Germany to work because Germany has high income and good benefits. Now it is the other way around. Germans are coming to work in us. United Group alone has hired nearly 40,000 German employees. Why are we still looking at this? Won't you come out? "

"Of course..." Contini raised his head and stared at the thousands of teachers and students in the audience. "Today I want to upgrade my original point of view. It is not simply about being rich and powerful but not free, but about being rich and powerful but not personal. Freedom: What we are striving for now is the freedom of the country of Italy. Striving for the freedom of this nation is to strive for collective freedom, so we have to temporarily sacrifice personal freedom. Without the strength and prosperity of the country, does your personal freedom have any meaning? After you leave, you will still be a second-class citizen, and you will still be laughed at by others as a poor imperialist. Is this the freedom you want? This is not the Italy I want!

Only when Italy becomes truly powerful, truly realizes the great revival of the Roman Empire, and truly can be compared with Britain, the United States, France and other countries, will the era of our pursuit of personal freedom come. Before that, there is only patience, hard work, and struggle!

Therefore, today I can tell you frankly that in the future, the control and high pressure in the ideological and political fields will continue. Those who can accept it and are willing to contribute to the collective happiness and freedom of the Italian people are welcome to stay; those who cannot Those who accept it and are only willing to fight for personal freedom and happiness are not welcome! Please go to the United States or the United Kingdom to live, wherever you like, the travel expenses are not enough and I will subsidize it! Anyway, don't cause trouble for us! "

Having said this, Contini took a step forward and punched his left chest tightly with his fist: "My classmates and teachers at the University of Rome, and comrades from the Youth League, please ask yourself and tell me, what do you want from Italy?" Freedom or your own personal freedom? Are you willing to contribute your personal freedom and even your life to Italy’s national prosperity and national freedom?”

The members of the Youth League in the audience all stood up respectfully, raised their right hands in salute, and shouted enthusiastically: "Long live the leader! Long live Italy!"

This scene also affected other students and some teachers. They also stood up and shouted: "Long live the leader! Long live Italy!"

Only a handful of liberal intellectuals are shaking their heads and sighing. They know that they cannot reverse the situation. They must either go abroad, obey, or remain silent. There is no other way. Trying to confront the powerful state machinery will only lead to a dead end in the future!

After he said this, the principal who presided over the ceremony no longer knew what to say. With his identity and position, he could neither agree nor deny it. In the end, he could only say vaguely: "The leader and president have already It has pointed out the direction for the young generation of Italy. I hope that all students will continue to work hard and forge ahead along the right path and realize their personal ideal pursuit as soon as possible! "As for whether you pursue national prosperity or personal freedom, it depends on what your ideal is.

Contini would not expose this, just smiled, and then donated 20 million lire to the school on behalf of the United Group to purchase experimental equipment and foreign literature, almost all of which were in science and engineering.

Contini's speech was recorded live, and the full text was published in Youth Daily and other newspapers. The next day, the recording was sent to IBC for full text broadcast, which aroused a great response. On June 12 On the same day, graduates of secondary and higher education institutions in Rome, backbones of youth leagues, and some young teachers took to the streets to organize demonstrations. They carried the slogan "Love the country, love the party, love the leader" and raised banners saying "We want a prosperous country and national freedom" to oppose Public liberal intellectuals, known in history as "graduation marches" and "anti-freedom demonstrations!"

This scene broke the hearts of Italian liberals and made them realize the reality. What are the young Italians who are coerced by nationalism and statism currently thinking! However, after the statistics, only a very small number of liberal arts professors left Italy to develop in other countries for obvious reasons. These intellectuals still have some social status and the ability to influence things in Italy. Who cares about them in the UK or the United States? The latter would rather pay attention to the president's green ticket than to them.

Not to mention Germany, Hitler was giving a speech in the streets all over Germany. The supporters at the speech were all holding a red and black copy of "Mein Kampf" printed in Italy. Italy still longs to be strong!