The Empire of Parsend is a colossal, cultured nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, frequent executions, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 5.797 billion Parsendians 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, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Parsend. The average income tax rate is 71.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Parsendian economy, worth 356 trillion Parnams a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Furniture Restoration, and Basket Weaving. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 61,559 Parnams, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

Renaissance frescos are being chiselled off public walls, sales of disinfectant wipes have skyrocketed, Jennifer Government is banned, and there are no longer any roads less traveled. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Parsend's national animal is the Wolf, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Solism.

Parsend is ranked 281,521^st in the world and 568^th in A Taco Paradise for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring -99.37 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.