The Combine of Universal Union is a mammoth, orderly nation, ruled by Consul Marc Kinnison with an iron fist, and remarkable for its compulsory military service, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 8.543 billion Universal Unionists are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The enormous, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of City One. The average income tax rate is 66.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but inefficient Universal Unionist economy, worth 325 trillion social credits 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 black market in Automobile Manufacturing, Tourism, Trout Farming, 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 38,144 social credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Lobster tastes best when it is red, the "Dreadnowt" is the pride and joy of the Universal Unionist Navy, UFO sightings are listed daily in the morning news, and when the air force says "Black Hawk Down" they mean the feathers of the Universal Unionist dark-plume goshawk. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Universal Union's national animal is the crab and its national religion is transcendence.

Universal Union is ranked 240,494^th in the world and 4^th in The Populace of Overachieving Peoples for Largest Welfare Programs, scoring 601.11 on the Safety Net Mesh Density Rating.