Hogsweat

Valiant Commonwealth of Hogsweat

The Valiant Commonwealth of Hogsweat was a massive, devout, economically powerful, safe, nation, renowned for its compulsory military service and lack of prisons, and remarkable for its devotion to social welfare. Its hard-nosed population of 4.545 billion had some civil rights, but not too many, enjoyed the freedom to spend their money however they liked, to a point, and took part in free and open elections, although not too often.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stopped and the rest of society began, but the government of Hogsweat juggled the competing demands of defence, social welfare, and social equality. The average income tax rate was 100%. Due to high taxes, there was no significant private sector of the economy.

Sea lions were popular in pet stores nationwide, roads were often attended by round-the-clock construction crews, organ donation was compulsory, and Hogsweat's army was full of two metre tall super-soldiers. Crime was totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hogsweat's national animal was the sea lion, which teetered on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency was the Pound, with a conversion rate of about USD1.70 for one Hogsweatian pound.

The nation of Hogsweat was annihilated on October 15, 2005 while reportedly attempting to unite the region of Haven under Hogsweatian leadership. An Automagfreek military observation described the event as "an apocalyptic civil dispute," stating that "the nation of Hogsweat has been wiped off the face of the earth by their defense grid that went berserk." This event is historically remembered as the Hogsweat deletion controversy.

Motherlandism: a breakdown of Hogsweatian political philosophy

Introduction to Motherlandism

Motherlandism is, to put it quite simply, a form of government whereby the Motherland takes presidence over a God, so to speak. The term "Fatherland" can also be used. The Motherland is refered to in the same way that a deity or a king would be. For example, the Hogsweatian curse "Sacred Motherland" was comparable to using "Jesus Christ" as an expletive.

From an Hogsweat dictionary:

A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy, where a single parliament of approximately five thousand individuals and a single political party holds power, representing the motherland and dictating its orders over the citizens of the motherland. The motherland, while not being an actual person, is often personified as being great, glorious, without fault, etc. The Motherland is like a deity to the people so highly indoctrinated in Motherlandism. People give their lives for the Motherland, like they do for their religion. There is extreme cases of nationalism and patriotism in Motherlandism, although Motherlandism promotes racial and class equality as "wherever you were born, in whatever kind of hospital, everyone is a child of the Motherland and is therefore treated equally and without bias."

Motherlandist texts state that capitalism "...leeches off the people of the Motherland and the Motherland itself, ripping it apart at its seams while selling its natural resources to greedy nations to make profit for oneself, and betterment for oneself, not others and the Motherland."

In the concept of Motherlandism, imperialism "...dictates to capture the Motherland and enslave it and its people. This MUST not happen, no foreign soldier must step one foot over our sacred borders!"

Motherlandism claims that “[Fascism]... is an evil that must necessarily be eradicated. Fascism seeks to overwhelm the dictatorship of the people, the people of the Motherland, and replace them with one leader that does not seek to further the betterment of others and the Motherland.”

In Hogsweat, Motherlandism proclaimed it necessary to have a strong military and economy to “…protect the Motherland from fascist, capitalist, and imperialist foreign invaders that would wish to separate sacred Motherland from its people. It is imperative that the fascist menace that looms over our world is defeated so that the holy soil of our Motherland remains intact forevermore; the only way for this to happen is to have a strong military and an economy that will never drop beyond levels that would cause absolute poverty to the Motherland.”

Common Motherlandist Slogans

• ”The Motherland is of utmost importance!”
• “Forwards, for the Motherland!”
• “Drive the Fascist invader from our Motherland! (wartime only)
• The Motherland watches over our endeavours, socialist people be inspired to acts of further economy heroism!” (from a famous propaganda poster)
• “The Motherland provides!”
• “The Motherland protects!”

Most, if not all, of these represent the need for the Motherland to be protected and its standards to be upheld, and that the Motherland is one thing that everyone needs as much as oxygen and water and food. In Hogsweat, the Motherland was believed to be the living, breathing soul of the country.

Motherlandist Justice

Motherlandism also integrates a harsh judicial system based upon one's actions rather than intent. The statement that "everyone is equal" is not entirely true in Motherlandism; Motherlandism prefers that everyone is born equal and is treated equal until their actions prove so. For example, a murderer has proved that he is not worthy of being treated equal because he cannot treat others equally. Incidentally, murder in Hogsweat led to an instant death sentence. In Hogsweat, a death sentence was most commonly carried out by shooting or gas chamber.

The highest five sentences, and the only ones for which a citizen of Hogsweat could be executed, are listed here in order, the first being the worst:

1. Traitor to the Motherland
2. Murder of a Motherland citizen
3. Race, class, religious hatred crime
4. Profiteering
5. Drug dealing

Motherlandist Economy

Motherlandism’s economic policy dictates a collective economy where any business employs over fourteen persons over working age. At the end of the week the entire earnings of a factory are put together and distributed equally to all the members of the factory, whether employed in management, production or distribution. Although there is a manager of the company, he only directs the company, and receives only as much profit as the worker.

Motherlandism’s trade policies are something similar to free trade, although it rather contradicts itself in that subsidies are constantly handed out to national businesses. Motherlandism is highly anticapitalist, claiming that capitalism oppresses people for profit. In Hogsweat, capitalists were characterized as fat people with big hats who liked to be surrounded by whores, while the employee was characterized as working ten to fourteen hours a day honestly to feed his starving family with just enough bread, while the capitalist dips his loaf in caviar.

There are no official statistics for Hogsweatian production, as they were constantly changing, but it is thought between 45% and 50% of businesses were involved in primary production, such as mines, quarries, collective farms, or woodchipping stations. Nearly 65% of total production was geared towards military. Resource gathering was heavily orientated around industries such as mines and quarries, as opposed to retail and commerce.

Rankings

• Hogsweat was ranked 19th in the region and 3,625th in the world for Fastest-Growing Economies.
• Hogsweat was ranked 6th in the region and 2,969th in the world for Most Devout Nations.
• Hogsweat was ranked 18th in the region and 3,277th in the world for Most Subsidized Industry.
• Hogsweat was ranked 22nd in the region and 12,929th in the world for Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector.
• Hogsweat was ranked 32nd in the region and 101,149th in the world for Largest Information Technology Sector.
• Hogsweat was ranked 17th in the region and 81,851st in the world for Most Compassionate Citizens.

Budget (according to NS Economy)

External Links

• MOTHERLANDISM :: A breakdown of Hogsweat ::
• Military Designs
• Big NationStates Ship Comparison Chart