The Five-Finger Discount Brigade of Shoplifters is a colossal, socially progressive nation, renowned for its complete lack of prisons, absence of drug laws, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 5.723 billion Lightfingers are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous, liberal, socially-minded government prioritizes Welfare, although Healthcare and Education are also considered important. The average income tax rate is 73.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Lightfinger economy, worth 87.8 trillion Lightfinger Lifts 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 Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Furniture Restoration, Trout Farming, and Soda Sales. Average income is 15,350 Lightfinger Lifts, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shoplifters's national animal is the Magpie, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Shoplifters is ranked 141,693^rd in the world and 2^nd in The Pentagon for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 666.95 on the Gilded Widget Scale.