Nation/Steadham

The Holy Empire of Steadham is a huge, genial nation, remarkable for its smutty television, state-planned economy, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 708 million Steads 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.

The enormous government prioritizes Education, although Industry, Administration, and Healthcare are also considered important, while Spirituality is ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New York. The average income tax rate is 79.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Steadhan economy, worth 72.9 trillion Watts a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Cheese Exports. Average income is an impressive 103,009 Watts, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

A niche industry catering to S&M enthusiasts has sprung up, the new foreign policy is "why bother invading neighbours when they can be bought wholesale?", the government has declared its commitment to multilateralism, and UFO sightings are listed daily in the morning news. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Steadham's national animal is the Giraffe, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Steadham is ranked 151,900th in the world and 7,620th in The North Pacific for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring zero on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.