The Democratic States of Dashed Hopes is a colossal, pleasant nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, frequent executions, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 4.715 billion Dashed Hopesians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized government is primarily concerned with Defense, with Law & Order, Education, and Administration also on the agenda, while Welfare is ignored. The average income tax rate is 20.8%.

The Dashed Hopesian economy, worth 217 trillion Delta Eagles a year, is led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Soda Sales, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 46,168 Delta Eagles, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.3 times as much as the poorest.

Politicians bribe ten-year-old geniuses to sit their aptitude tests, black tea is only available on the black market, all beauty contests have been banned, and appendix transplant figures have recently doubled. Crime is moderate, possibly because it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many regulations. Dashed Hopes's national animal is the Kitsune, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Dashed Hopes is ranked 202,651^st in the world and 2,990^th in eta for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -1.18 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.