The Consensus of Zesh is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Consensus with a fair hand, and notable for its ritual sacrifices, complete lack of prisons, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 4.189 billion Zesh are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The relatively small, corrupt, pro-business, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of The Core. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 60.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Scientific economy, worth a remarkable 1,822 trillion gigajoules a year, is broadly diversified and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Retail, and Uranium Mining. Average income is an amazing 435,134 gigajoules, with the richest citizens earning 8.3 times as much as the poorest.

Tourist operators promise visitors tours of live burning shipwrecks and plane crash sites, adjacent suburbs build competing earthworks to force the other neighbourhood to flood first, Occam's razor has sliced to pieces any childhood belief in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, and Dàguó lanterns outnumber streetlights in major cities. Crime, especially youth-related, is moderate, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Zesh's national animal is the lab rat, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Logic.

Zesh is ranked 2,872^nd in the world and 7^th in Free Market Federation for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 12,236.8 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.