"What of interest does the mysterious 'Censor' say? [...] This society suits us because it is here, and we want to maintain it to maintain our power over it. What society is Censor's? The capitalist society that reaches from San Francisco to Vladivostok, the society in which the holders or controlers of capital make the masses work by force or by an incomparable power of illusion [...] The final part of the pamphlet is an aristocratic and absolute cynicism." Il Giorno, 31 August 1975.
"The life and experiences of Censor are intimately linked with those of the most enlightened capitalism in our countries." Panoromama, 11 September 1976.
"At this point, one asks who could be this Censor, who unveiled the secret of things [...] It is thus that one reads with scepticism the assertions about the hot autumn, the strategy of tension, the bombs and massacres of the Piazza Fontana, but can't stop, given that the authority of the anonymous author is already well-established when he approaches this point, and it is a cause for the gravity of his assertions [...] Up until the present, the State's thesis concerning the massacre didn't have support among ultra-leftist groups; the Italian Communist Party itself, officially, is lukewarm on the subject. But it is stupifying that the communists have now publically endorsed a conservative political position, the unique care of which is saving of capitalism in Italy." Il Resto del Carlino, 11 September 1975.
"A small volume of limited circulation that theorizes the motifs by which big national capital enters into a pact with the PCI [Partie Communiste d'Italia] [...] Who wrote it isn't of great importance, because, on the contrary, it is in fact reflective of the ideas that Italians have on the historic compromise, saving the bourgeoisie and so forth." Il Borghese, 15 September 1975.
"A real and authentic manifesto of the Italian political and economic right-wing [...] It is certain, in every case, that this manifesto is the most cynical politico-economic diagnostic that has ever appeared in Italy [...] Certainly, Censor observes, certain people will ask of today's [economic] production: is it necessary to love it? [...] The problem doesn't have meaning. Because capitalism evidently doesn't love production but simply the surplus-value that it can withdraw from it." Europeo, 18 September 1975.
"A new anonymous writer has appeared on the scene of our political literature: he hides himself under the pseudonym of Censor, but he doesn't hide his conservative ideas [...] Looks with kindness on the Communists and the historic compromise." Corriere d'Informazione, 19 September 1975.
"And here is where Censor shows his anti-conformism. In place of doubts about the pact with the Communist forces, the bourgeois are advised to ally themselves with the PCI in order to utilize their incomparable power of illusion vis-a-vis the workers, to support the traditional domination of the bourgeois market. The true menace to the current equilibrium isn't the Communist Party, but the revolutionary possibility of a general rebellion of the masses against their condemnation to salaried work [...] A mystic vision of power, moreover, seems to be the light that guides the thought of Censor [...] The psychoanalytic key can without doubt furnish the most fortunate interpretation of the motive that provoked this veritable report: one could speak of the complex of the protagonist." Corriere della Sera, 27 September 1975.
"The last anonymous writer had success calling himself Censor [...] Incapable of defending itself, the bourgeoisie concludes that an alliance with the PCI is necessary to save capitalism. But if it cannot do this quickly, the revolutionary orgy of the proletarians will sweep away the tested structures of this society." L'Expresso, 5 October 1975.
"One can't share the elitist conception and the aristocratic cynicism that are born in Censor of his long familiarity with Machiavelli, Alfieri, Clausewitz and many of the conceptual categories of classical literature. One can estimate the singular means of a discourse that is entirely enunciated from the point of view of those who have real power and the problem of distributing the possible means [...] And yet, it is a good thing that, among the other ideas, Censor has proposed a right-wing ideological deciphering, a theory of the restoration of reforms and the suppression of sword-blows." Europa-Domani, 15 October 1975.
"It is, in sum, a perfect construction, of great literary value due to its style, which is impeccably sustained, always amiable, that is to say, accessible [...] make sense of the interrogations that figure on the publisher's page and challenge one to divine who Censor is: an enlightened conservative? A reactionary cynic? A disguised supporter of the left? These are questions that stimulate the curiosity of the readers, but one can tranquilly ignore them, except for the first one and only in part [...] in the sense that the luminaries around him prevail upon his eventual preference for conservatism. His concepts are dialectic, his recommendations are oriented towards dynamism [...] and I find that his constant and precise cultural references bear witness to a progressive spirit, insofar as culture is progress, without adjectives." La Stampa, 31 October 1975.
"In an edition of few copies published in the month of August, the cynical and refined Report stirred up a whirlpool of interpretations: was he a man of the right or the left? What does he really want? [...] If someone has consciously tried to create such a success, and if he is an upstart, then he would be a genius." Epoca, 15 November 1975.
"Censor [...] whose politics make one think of the 'great salesman' of the Communist Party [...] has the air of a subtle PCI operation." Il Giornale, 26 November 1975.
(Clippings assembled by Gianfranco Sanguinetti, translated from Italian into French by Guy Debord, and published in the edition of Veritable rapport sur les dernieres chances de sauver le capitalisme en Italia published by Editions Champ Libre in January 1976. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! July 2004.)