The Flickering Flame of Sootseer is a colossal, safe nation, notable for its daily referendums, prohibition of alcohol, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, humorless population of 4.313 billion Sootseerians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The large, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 54.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Sootseerian economy, worth 336 trillion dollars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Trout Farming. Black market activity is extensive. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 77,985 dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Young children are learning advanced physics to scientifically disprove the existence of Santa Claus, the new foreign policy is "why bother invading neighbours when they can be bought wholesale?", taxpayer money is hard at work exorcizing laundry, and ambulances aren't allowed to overtake hearses. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Sootseer's national animal is the squirrel, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Sootseer is ranked 150,483^rd in the world and 4^th in Citizens Alliance of Democracy for Largest Populations, with 4.31 billion capita.