Chapter 325: Dreams
Steve's matter was nothing more than an insignificant ripple amidst the clash of countless ideologies. The conflict between ordinary people and superhumans had accumulated for a long time due to differing interests and stances. It was only the oppressive presence of an external enemy like the Sea Race that had prevented a full-blown civil war.
On one side were the superhumans, who comprised merely four to five percent of the total human population but possessed over eighty percent of society's wealth and constantly sought to expand their privileged domain. On the other were the vast majority of ordinary people, who were not troubled by scarcity but by inequality. This clash of ideologies filled human society with turmoil.
After all, this was not a feudal era where hierarchical systems were deeply entrenched, but a modern society that, at least on the surface, advocated for equality among all people.
Modern people, having experienced an education shaped by the information explosion, would never willingly remain subordinates for life. Reality might shackle their actions, but the dream in their hearts would not extinguish.
As long as there was a single spark, a raging inferno could very well ignite.
"Reporting, Chairman Chen, in the past half-month, over four hundred comrades who identify with our ideals have joined the organization!" The newly promoted young man in charge of statistics was quite excited.
"Take two hundred of them to Ji Si Ti Si and assign them the task of guiding the local populace." Chen Kedi was not concerned about moles from other factions, because the disguise of their ideology could not deceive Red Radiance itself; no one attempting to infiltrate would pass that test.
Those who truly identified with Red Radiance could not tolerate being lackeys.
Under the cover provided by his ally, Hou Zi, all criminals within Ji Si Ti Si were sent to the outskirts. There, they engaged in agricultural production while receiving re-education from Red Radiance members, gradually leading them to identify with the relevant ideals.
However, he didn't particularly care. Instead, he wanted to see if they could ultimately succeed. After serving as an enforcer for several years, overseeing matters big and small, he had grown somewhat weary. The stupidity of the people under his governance never seemed to change.
To gain a paltry bit of profit, they would rack their brains to evade his supervision. Corrupt officials would even use Morse code to communicate, determined to carry out their exchanges of benefits to the very end.
The subtle, almost imperceptible oppression of juniors by seniors, the shifting of more burdensome work onto newcomers, verbal bullying in schools, commercial tax evasion — he had witnessed too many such things over the past few years, various acts that didn't quite constitute crimes but were nonetheless deeply unpleasant.
Even in a small nation like Ji Si Ti Si, with only a few hundred thousand people, many gray areas had begun to fester after stability was achieved.
Yet, these actions weren't strictly violations of the laws he had established; they merely skirted the edges of the rules. Unless he updated the laws daily, arbitrarily declaring anything that displeased him illegal, this state of affairs would simply continue.
But doing so would mean he would fall into an ever-deepening whirlpool, because the definitions of many things were too vague. What kind of words truly constituted verbal intimidation or bullying? Would he need to scrutinize every single word spoken by everyone?
"Functionally speaking, both brainwashing and education involve inputting information to change a person's thoughts and even their worldview. The difference is... education rarely bypasses the educated individual to judge right or wrong for them."
This avatar, responsible for affairs in Ji Si Ti Si, conveyed Chen Kedi's thoughts.
"The content instilled by education should not be overly biased, pre-supposing a whole host of incorrect notions. Brainwashing, precisely the opposite, must inherently carry a certain slanted viewpoint."
"So what would you call what you're doing now?" Hou Zi asked.
"Education." Chen Kedi calmly replied, "We will not brainwash others, indoctrinate them with various ideologies, and then send them to fight desperately on the battlefield like fearless cannon fodder. That is no different in essence from the One-Wheel Cult. We are not the Red Radiance Holy Church; we do not need to cultivate fanatics.
"What we are doing is telling everyone in the world that there is another path, one that can break the eternal class system that is about to form!"
"Many people, after learning of Red Radiance's existence, might not have the courage to directly participate in our cause, but that doesn't mean they have no ideas in their hearts. This is the true meaning of Red Radiance: to make everyone learn to think, rather than blindly endure."
As Chen Kedi spoke, Hou Zi could feel that a power, one that even astonished him, seemed to have formed behind Chen Kedi, and this power was still continuously growing...
"Is this the monster you intend to cultivate to fight monsters?" He didn't voice the thought aloud, merely re-examined this organization that seemed like a farce.
Huaxia, Tianqing.
"Since the public trials of a batch of notoriously disgraced individuals, the number of suicide attacks carried out by those imbued with Red Radiance has decreased significantly, but they still cannot be eradicated. On average, there are still two to three incidents per day." Inside Ziliu Sea, the conference secretary-general recounted the recent situation to those present.
"After Red Radiance spread virally, there's no way to completely eliminate it. As long as there is injustice, the people at the bottom will resist. And as long as there's resistance, they will very likely leverage the power of Red Radiance."
"However, this isn't necessarily entirely bad. At the very least, now that ordinary people have a bit of power to resist, those in subordinate positions are constrained and won't go too far." Cheng Mu viewed the significance of Red Radiance's existence from a deeper perspective.
From their positions, everyone present clearly understood the general situation, from their direct subordinates all the way to the grassroots. Living at the apex of the pyramid, they naturally had no need to worry about money.
However, for mid-to-lower-level officials, their perspectives were clearly very different. Whether it was to climb higher in status or to increase their power, money was essentially indispensable for paving the way. If they wanted quick money, there were only a few well-known paths.
Now, with the possibility of a desperate, all-out strike, it had to some extent restrained the behavior of these individuals, preventing them from going too far. It was a variation of the "catfish effect."
Furthermore, the existence of Red Radiance provided a convenient, unassailable reason for certain dissenting elements within factions to disappear. Of course, this point was sufficient for everyone to tacitly understand; there was no need to discuss it openly.
After so many years of political baptism, even the Dao Academy faction, which was initially clueless about power struggles and had seized power solely through violence, had now cultivated sufficient political acumen. They were in no way inferior to others when it came to underhanded schemes and calculations.
It was precisely for all the reasons above that the top echelons of the Huaxia Federation did not issue a death order to suppress the influence of Red Radiance. Instead, just like how they dealt with Hou Zi back then, they publicly pursued them with great fanfare, but in reality, it was merely a pretense.
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