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“Necessity never made a good bargain”

The Federation of Mimes Guild is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its devotion to social welfare. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 13.654 billion have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defence, and the Environment. The average income tax rate is 100%. 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.

Cremation is compulsory for the deceased, children have taken to using semaphore in light of the recent mobile phone ban, euthanasia is legal, and anti-government political posters adorn every building like wallpaper. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mimes Guild's national animal is the opossum, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the IOU.

Mimes Guild is ranked 26th in the region and 3,138th in the world for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry.