The Free Domes of Meridiani Planum is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by Steven Dessler with an even hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, sprawling nuclear power plants, and digital currency. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, cheerful population of 33.918 billion Meridians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded, pro-business individuals juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Prometheus Dome. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Meridian economy, worth a remarkable 9,745 trillion libras a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Soda Sales industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Retail. Average income is an amazing 287,322 libras, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,270,166 per year while the poor average 40,660, a ratio of 31.2 to 1.

Commuters are denied boarding for attempting to bring packed lunches onto trains, escalators are avoided at all costs, any body part that can be cut off a person is no longer considered to be their property, and only the wealthy can afford monorail fares. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, probably because of the absence of a police force. Meridiani Planum's national animal is the beaver, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Eudaimonism.

Meridiani Planum is ranked 273,985^th in the world and 240^th in Capitalist Paradise for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring -46.58 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.