The State of John Snow is a gargantuan, safe nation, renowned for its compulsory military service, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 36.196 billion John Snowians 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Law & Order, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Douglas Heights. The average income tax rate is 87.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but sluggish John Snowian economy, worth 815 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is mostly comprised of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 22,528 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government is reigning in public spending, bicyclists are banned from major roads, political activists are routinely executed, and John Snow has designated Douglas Heights as its capital city. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. John Snow's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

John Snow is ranked 36,383^rd in the world and 77^th in State for Largest Welfare Programs, scoring 2,437.43 on the Safety Net Mesh Density Rating.