The Collective of Wineclaw is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants, unlimited-speed roads, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 20.83 billion Wineclaws 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, liberal morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Consciousness. The average income tax rate is 96.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Wineclaw economy, worth a remarkable 2,580 trillion cells a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 123,866 cells, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal, lottery winners spend most of their money on security, a favorite "life hack" for gap year backpackers is to pretend to be homeless for government handouts, and the atmosphere in Wineclaw boardrooms is turning more gay. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Wineclaw's national animal is the peregrine falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Wineclaw is ranked 18,113^th in the world and 749^th in The North Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 296.44 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.