Spotlight on:

“We Own Y'all!”

The United Socialist States of Span is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by M Shobacus Maz with a fair hand, and renowned for its devotion to social welfare. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 15.321 billion are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whoever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, liberal, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it concentrates mainly on Education, although Law & Order and the Environment are on the agenda. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Maz . The average income tax rate is 100%. A powerhouse of a private sector is dominated by the Book Publishing industry.

Citizens are encouraged to report friends, family members or co-workers who seem depressed to the government for "counselling", X-Files ratings have hit an all-time low, new urban roads are threatening city parks, and legislation sometimes has to battle through weeks of filibustering to pass. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Span's national animal is the donkey, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the spanny.

Span is ranked 2nd in the region and 233rd in the world for Largest Nations.