The Republic of BEFORE KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON VINNY is a colossal, orderly nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and restrictive gun laws. The cynical population of 8.625 billion BEFORE KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON VINNYians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 50.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant BEFORE KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON VINNYian economy, worth 77.9 trillion francs a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, fairly diversified black market in Trout Farming, Book Publishing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Cheese Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 9,031 francs, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. BEFORE KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON VINNY's national animal is the dove.

BEFORE KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON VINNY is ranked 247,399^th in the world and 4,397^th in Artificial Solar System for Smartest Citizens, with 7.05 quips per hour.