Difference between revisions of "McPsychoville"

Revision as of 15:18, 8 March 2006

McPsychoville

Flag of McPsychoville
Motto: Negativity is life, anything else is just a bonus
No Map Available
Region	Alliance of Honourable Peoples
Capital	Royston Valley
Official Language(s)	English, French
Leader	Aaron R Jackson
Population	2.2 billion
Currency	Karmic Dollar
NS Sunset XML

McPsychoville - An Introduction

The phrase ‘hard-nosed’ has been used to describe plenty of things, and in its most basic definition, it means ‘guided by practical experience rather than theory’. This is one of the nicer ways used to describe the citizens of McPsychoville and, in fact, the nation as a whole.

Located at the very north of the Northern Continent within the Alliance of Honourable Peoples, McPsychoville is a cold and mountainous nation, suited for life only for those who can adapt to it; the national animal, the cougar, is a prime example (explaining it’s adoption as national animal). In previous years, much of the western part has been covered with vegetation, but due to the exponential expansion of the industrial and commercial sectors within some of the cities, vast areas of land has been razed in order to provide space for further growth – the ever-increasing population of more than two billion citizens is testimony to that.

The people of McPsychoville have always been distinctly more militaristic and ready to go to war than other nations within the Alliance, and the recent inclusion of the McPsychovillian Armed Forces within the Alliance Defence Force (ADF) was viewed by some senior figures as being surprisingly late. The most recent conflict the McPsychovillian Army has been involved with is the destruction of Anti Anti-Racism, but before that, they have also acted to first repel, then destroy the Buttonmoonian Army (for more information, follow this link: Buttonmoonian War).

At present, McPsychoville – like most nations within the Alliance – is a Parliamentary Democracy, currently governed by the Conservative Democratic Party, and their leader of two years, Aaron R Jackson. However, the archaic monarchy is still in place, despite the ruling monarchs having little to no power (although this does not seem to bother them unduly). The Spade Hall – home of the McPsychovillian Parliament – resides in the capital city of Royston Valley, as do all departments of the government, other than Defense, which is located in Deadbolt City.

Defined by the UN as an Inoffensive Centrist Democracy, McPsychoville boasts a ‘Powerhouse’ economical rating and ‘Excellent’ political freedoms. This has formed the current government’s basis for both their domestic re-election into power, and their international election within the Alliance to the Council. The strength of its economy has also allowed McPsychoville entry into the Alliance Group of Eight, currently jointly led by Kegmenistan, Super Rome and Roudland (who all boast ‘Frightening’ economies).

The Population

Population and ethnicity

According to the latest census (January 2006), the total McPsychovillian population recently surpassed two billion citizens. Of this, more than seventy percent listed themselves as being pure-bred McPsychovillian (which can be primarily attributed to the fact that the land now occupied by the nation was previously nothing but wasteland before its conception). However, there is still a distinct ethnic culture populated by citizens of a variety of other nations - mostly those of the Alliance, but it includes many others; given the vast influence the Canadian Empire has held over McPsychoville through the nation’s history, it is unsurprising that more than ten percent of citizens claimed to have some Canadian blood.

Age and life

In the run-up to the 2005 Parliamentary election, the Conservative Democratic Party placed a significant emphasis on the provision of free healthcare to all, going as far as to use this promise as one of its biggest policies for re-election. However, to look more towards the past is not something they want, as the nation’s health has not been stellar. The current average life expectancy stands at 67 years for both sexes, one of the lowest within the Alliance.

However, economical statistics put in the public domain in the 2005(b) Budget Report state that currently nineteen percent of McPsychoville’s governmental budget is put towards the field of healthcare, which point towards a move towards average, at the very least.

Language

McPsychoville, like many others nations throughout the world, uses English as its sole official language, but there are a number of others that have proliferated in the years since its independence. French is still spoken in the few regions that maintain strong Canadian connections, while both Latin and Aramaic have grown in popularity (this has been attributed to the fact that these languages are required in Super Roman and Kegmenistani universities respectively)

Religion

With the advent of free speech follows freedom of religion, and McPsychovillian citizens take full advantage of this privilege. In the January census, more than twenty religions were recorded as being practised by greater than one percent of the population - among these were Kegmenistan’s Church of Cathol, those of the Yewish faith, those who classed themselves as Satanists, Jedi and most peculiarly, Soylent.

Suffrage

Universal suffrage (the ability to drink, smoke, be sexually active and vote in elections) is presently at nineteen, but there is a proposition currently going through the McPsychovillian Parliament to reduce it to seventeen. It is facing some opposition at the moment, primarily from the strongly right-wing members of Parliament, but is yet to be initially debated.

Education

The subject of education is split into a number of sections, each dealing with a certain band of ages. They follow:

Basic Education

(Ages 3-6)

This stage of education is that at which infants learn the most rudimentary skills for life, such as reading, writing and arithmetic. It also teaches the young social skills at an early age. This stage is compulsory for all, as are the following two.

Primary Education

(Ages 6-12)

This stage of a child’s education builds on their existing knowledge of language and mathematics, and introduces other elements into the curriculum such as the sciences and physical education. From here, a student will advance into Secondary Education, but at what level he or she progresses is determined by a series of tests; the student will be tested on each individual subject, and further taught according to their strengths.

Secondary Education

(Ages 12-18)

As stated above, students are taught in Secondary Education according to their strengths, but concepts such as critical analysis of their subject material are introduced and built upon. Students graduate at 18, after the completion of their courses and passing the final exams in their respective subjects. This qualification is called the Secondary Certificate of Education - the SCE.

Further/Tertiary Education

(Ages 18+)

This stage refers to those who choose to progress to one of McPsychoville’s universities, and while such a qualification is by no means required, the small percentage of students who do continue onwards are looked upon very favourably by employers. However, these courses are notoriously difficult - the students accepted are the undisputed crème de la crème of McPsychoville’s educational system.

Culture and Customs

It has been said in the past that there are five types of ‘great people’ - the prophets, the scientists, the artists, the warriors and the tradesmen. Prophets may be lacking, but McPsychoville remains proud of its heritage, both pre and post-independence.

Given the nation’s distinct tendencies towards war in tense times, it is unsurprising that many of this era’s great military tacticians have originated from McPsychoville. Among other things, any man ranked higher than Lieutenant must have a qualification in Military Tactics before ascending any further, while lower in the ranks Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ is studied. Jean-Francois Racine is one of the many tacticians whose name has become ‘household’ within military circles due to his controversial book ‘Knight to Rook-Eight: A Handbook For Winning Wars’.

He is not alone - in 2003, war with Jihad Allah became a distinct possibility when Jihad native Allan Green fled from both persecution and prosecution for treason as a result of his book ‘The Steel Hook’, which was both a thinly-veiled indictment of the oppressive dictatorship in Jihad Allah and a treatise in war theory. Then-CEO Harvey Tolland negotiated with the Emperor of Jihad Allah, but in the end steadfastly refused to extradite Green back to Jihad Allah. War beckoned until Roudland Prime Minister James Wilson got involved - since the crime of which Green was supposed to be convicted of was not a crime in McPsychoville, Jihad Allah had no authority regarding him and so could not force him to be extradited. This incident cooled relations between McPsychoville and Jihad Allah to the point where the two leaders refused to speak to one another in the 2003 Alliance Council meeting. Even now, relations are still not good, despite a different CEO.

With the emphasis the McPsychovillian Parliament tends to put on the nation’s economy over civil and political rights, it is unsurprising that students of economics have proliferated. Arthur MacIntyre is one of these, and his text ‘On Economical Theory’, despite being published in 1981, is still being used in classrooms today (regardless of the later discoveries of MacIntyre’s life).

The McPsychovillian public transport system, despite receiving anywhere from one to five percent of the governmental budget, has had a number of problems in recent years, particularly with broken-down buses and trains. It was these that prompted the ‘Urban Decay’ series of paintings and photographs from Eric Brière, which have been described as ‘McPsychoville’s greatest cultural export of the last century’. The last painting in the series - Tenement, which depicts a battered red bus stopped outside one of the tower blocks in a poorer sector of Blind River - was sold to the Gothria Museum of Fine Art in May 2004, provoking an incredible response from the community as a whole, who saw the Urban Decay series as being national treasures.

The last major contributors to McPsychovillian culture come from science - both military and conventional. Simon Cooke, a chemist, is credited with the discovery and development of Incinerex, the plastic explosive currently used by many of the Alliance’s armed forces (although Incinerex’s cultural benefits are debatable, at best). On the other hand, Leonard Gagne is the founder and current head of the Eleventh Hour Research Facility, a government-sanctioned and funded institute dedicated solely to finding a cure for cancer and other ‘terminal’ diseases. Progress is naturally slow, but the EHRF continue to push on with their efforts.

National Holidays

Economy

Of particular pride to McPsychovillians is their nation’s economy, which has recently been re-designated by the United Nations as ‘All-Consuming’, one of the highest ranks a nation can achieve. And for good reason - with next to no interference from the government, the McPsychovillian economy has been described as ‘the high standard for any free market to aspire to’.

The many mountains in the eastern areas of the nation have proved to be a literal goldmine - precious metals and ores are always in demand, and they have proven to be the backbone for economical growth. In the late 60s, fears were raised that these deposits were running out, which caused panic in the commodities - it is widely believed that this was one of the main causes of the infamous recession. Once the initial economic shock had worn off, senior economists at the McPsychovillian Central Bank looked at the nation and realised that without the raw materials market, they would be in trouble.

The decision was made in conjunction with governmental officials to encourage new business, which resulted in, among others, the formation of the Browning Munitions Corporation, Data Dynasty Ltd. and Point Zero Consumables, all three of which are now multi-national companies. Of late, certain companies from other Alliance nations - most notably Roudland's RoeHans chain of supermarkets - have entered into the market. However, the Cola Wars continue to rage without ever looking likely that a victor will emerge.

The government’s economic priorities lie with Law and Order, Defence and Healthcare, although increasingly large portions of the budget have gone towards improvement of the nation’s commercial sectors and educational system. In contrast, everything else receives nothing - no money is devoted to Public Transport, as this is run by privatised companies, or to the Environment, among others.

Of particular note is that there is no Social Welfare; this means, in effect, that the unemployed are left on their own. This is not to say that everyone without a job is treated this way - the disabled and pensioners are treated well, given either disability benefits commensurate with how debilitating their disability is or a handsome state pension.

GDP: $58.8 trillion
GDP/capita: $26,015
Unemployment: 2.93%
Income Tax Rate: 48%

Sports

Physical education is first introduced into the McPsychovillian school system at an early age, and the government places a distinct emphasis on it over other such extra-curricular activities. Further, since the spirit of competition within the Alliance is always high, McPsychoville maintains a high level of sporting excellence; the international teams constantly finish highly in international competitions.

International Teams

The three most popular international teams are naturally the teams playing hockey, football and gridiron; respectively, these are the McPsychoville Maple Leafs, the McPsychoville Minutemen and the McPsychoville Predators. However, they are by no means the only teams McPsychoville has to offer; some comparatively minor sports are played, such as rugby union, lacrosse, dodgeball and mixed martial arts, among others. The Minutemen will be participating in World Cup 27 later this year.