The State of Alder West is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by the Governor with an iron fist, and remarkable for its punitive income tax rates, suspicion of poets, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 11.413 billion Alder Westians 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Welfare, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 77.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Alder Westian economy, worth 48.0 trillion betales 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 Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Information Technology, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 4,207 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Citizens can be frequently spotted going about their business stark naked, the government's official stance on religion is that it is so very silly, The Governor has just been declared ruler of Alder West in an international press conference, and prison walls have had to be modified to keep parkour-trained criminals from escaping. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Alder West's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Alder West is ranked 108,841^st in the world and 6^th in Bloemfontein for Most Cheerful Citizens, with 50 Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full.