The Christmas Artsy Angel of Bendicion is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Mary Jane Reinaldi with an even hand, and notable for its national health service, complete lack of prisons, and pith helmet sales. The hard-nosed, humorless population of 22.719 billion Bendians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Grand Kalipzty Bendianii. The average income tax rate is 98.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Bendian economy, worth an astonishing 13,370 trillion Doleres a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Retail. State-owned companies are common. Average income is a breathtaking 588,526 Doleres, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Schoolchildren must pass a six-month Ethics and Safety Committee Assessment before they are allowed to mix baking soda and vinegar, reporters sent to cover suspected UFO visits come back with stories about quilting bees, the upper class have been throwing riots after hunting was recently banned, and the military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bendicion's national animal is the Bald Eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Christianity.

Bendicion is ranked 2,117^th in the world and 35^th in Europe for Lowest Crime Rates, with 142.93 law-abiding acts per hour.