"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

For something totally different today, I've been building my own nation! NationStates is a nation simulation game based on the novel 'Jennifer Government' by Max Barry. You create your own country, fashioned after your own political ideals, and care for its people. Either that or you deliberately torture them. It's really up to you.

http://www.nationstates.net/

Welcome to:
The Republic of Zoopland

Motto: "Freedom at any price."
UN Category: Capitalizt
Civil Rights: Superb
Economy: Very Strong
Political Freedoms: Good
Location: Middle Earth

The Republic of Zoopland is a small, devout nation, notable for its absence of drug laws. Its compassionate, hard-working population of 10 million enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The enormous, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Religion & Spirituality, Social Welfare, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 23%. A small but healthy private sector is led by the Pizza Delivery industry, followed by Woodchip Exports and Cheese Exports.

The mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, education and welfare spending are on the rise, same-sex marriages are increasingly common, and meat-eating is frowned upon. Crime is a problem, and the police force struggles against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Zoopland's national animal is the llama and its currency is the moony.

Zoopland is ranked 52nd in the region and 30,833rd in the world for Largest Mining Sector.

As you can see, not everything is perfect in Zoopland. Issues I've had to deal with range from euthanasia and the death penalty to striking pizza delivery workers and animal rights activists. It's been interesting to see how centrist government policy making has resulted in, sometimes, extreme reactions in the country's populace.

If you feel like following Zoopland's progress, feel free to stop by:

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=zoopland

and don't be shy about starting your own country!