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“Take what you can, give nothing back”

The Republic of Ashonites is a massive, socially progressive nation, renowned for its hatred of cheese. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 3.6 billion live in a state of perpetual fear, as a complete breakdown of social order has led to the rise of order through biker gangs.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, liberal, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of the Environment, Education, and Social Welfare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 52%. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising fourteen-year-old boys selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

Euthanasia is illegal, televangelists flaunt their expensive cars when they attend charity events, the public health bureaucracy is wrapped in miles of red tape, and Penguin is one of the most popular forenames in Ashonites. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. Ashonites's national animal is the penguin, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the Squalo aletta.

Ashonites is ranked 51st in the region and 53,637th in the world for Largest Basket Weaving Sector.