Location: Ulthar

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Allied States of StoicBot is a colossal, genial nation, notable for its parental licensing program. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 5.324 billion love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Education, the Environment, and Social Equality. The average income tax rate is 99%. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

Companies struggle to cover for the hordes of employees on parental leave, elections have become procedural nightmares due to voters persistently rejecting candidates, children are raised bilingual from an early age, and space research funding has hit a recent high while several military bases are being closed down. Crime is totally unknown. StoicBot's national animal is the pelican, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the obsolete.

StoicBot is ranked 99th in Ulthar and 100,744th in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring -50 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and