The Long-Ended Running Joke of Ding and Dong is a titanic, safe nation, remarkable for its frequent executions, complete lack of prisons, and restrictive gun laws. The hard-nosed population of 10.335 billion Ding and Dongians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 66.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Ding and Dongian economy, worth 431 trillion bells 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 Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Woodchip Exports, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is 41,750 bells, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

Programmes of questionable content are shown at peak-hours, many parents are becoming frustrated with their children's choices in spouses, private business has started paving paradises and putting up parking lots, and all major public areas are watched by police surveillance cameras. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ding and Dong's national animal is the pigeon, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Ding and Dong is ranked 69,194^th in the world and 1^st in Jethnea for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 3,544.89 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.