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“Esto Perpetua”

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The County of Bannock is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, suspicion of poets, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 3.541 billion Bannockians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Law & Order, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pocatello. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 11.7%.

The thriving Bannockian economy, worth 257 trillion dollars a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming, Cheese Exports, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 72,761 dollars, with the richest citizens earning 9.4 times as much as the poorest.

People who get diabetes can sue donut manufacturers, politicians preface their speeches with a declaration that any resemblance to speeches given by individuals living or dead is purely coincidental, political parties are banned from advertising and receiving private donations, and baby boys who pick up pink crayons are sent to a psychiatric ward. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bannock's national animal is the bear, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Bannock is ranked 219,292^nd in the world and 16^th in County for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 45.5 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.