The Democratic States of Pessimism nation is a very large, genial nation, renowned for its irreverence towards religion, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The democratic population of 141 million Pessimisians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 64.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Pessimism nationian economy, worth 2.48 trillion punch cards 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, quite specialized black market in Trout Farming, Book Publishing, Basket Weaving, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. 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 17,612 punch cards, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Life expectancies inside correctional facilities vastly exceed the national average, the government is promoting multicultural values with the new 'Just Be Nice, OK?' initiative, shelters struggle to keep up with the endless intake of stray animals, and belligerent citizens shoot at passing clouds for 'violating their airspace'. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Pessimism nation's national animal is the Queer Kiwi, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Pessimism nation is ranked 178,587^th in the world and 118^th in Philosophers for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring 50.97 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.