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“Once you have their money, you never give it back.”

The Incorporated States of Ferringinar is a massive, economically powerful nation, renowned for its complete absence of social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 3.738 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded individuals juggles the competing demands of Public Transport, Education, and Healthcare. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Commerce City. Income tax is unheard of. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Gambling, Information Technology, and Soda Sales industries.

Citizens drive tank-like vehicles with mounted machine guns, the nation is experiencing a severe shortage of sporting events, young children are regularly seen wagering pocket money at blackjack tables, and small businesses are gobbled up almost daily by corporate giants. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling. Ferringinar's national animal is the weasel, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the latinum.

Ferringinar is ranked 19th in the region and 47,021st in the world for Highest Unemployment Rates.