Economy
The economic system that was chosen is a free market economy. A free market is a market where there is little to no government intervention in the buying and selling. Producers and consumers are the driving force of a free market economy. They decide the current value of a product through buying and selling with near-to-no government control. This is very similar to how the free market economy is set up in Lombardia where only very few things are regulated to make sure that the economy is in the best possible state. One of the control points which the government monitors is the creation of monopolies. The government completely prevents monopolies from forming as this could cause little to no competition to arise which is not a good thing when it comes to sales and diversity.
Lombardia thrives off of a rich mixed economic system in which the north of the country is very industrial and focuses on the production of steel, aluminum and coal which are traded plenty and often with countries such as the U.S.A, Egania (Sam's country), The United Kingdom, and Germany. The south is more focused on agriculture and the export of small, high quality products which make up the majority of the GDP. These high quality products include things such as clothing and fashion labels as well as high quality cars, jewellery, furniture as well as many other products led by small or large companies. The main export for cars include countries such as:
1. Great Britain: Great Britain usually settles for more high-end products from the production lines of Ferrari and Lamborghini, however it is also a main export partner for smaller hatchbacks made by Alfa-Romeo.
2. Germany: Germany is the largest export partner in the world for the small Alfa-Romeo hatchbacks and sports cars. It is also the by far largest export for Fiat vehicles.
3. The United States: Exports to the U.S.A are almost exclusively in high-end super cars in the form of loud and powerful Maseratis, even louder and even more powerful Ferraris and near ear-drum-bursting and space-shuttle-fast Lamborghinis.
4. Aotearoa (Alex's (9C) country): Aotearoa is another large export for Fiats and Alfa-Romeos due to the Kiwi population not being very fond of high power cars that they will not use too often.
5. Russia. Russia is not very big in the car production industry, therefore they require the high quality western cars which are usually of German origin but sometimes can come from Fiat or Alfa, and very occasionally from Lamborghini for the rich multi-millionaires in the country.
The economy is the second largest in the euro-zone with low personal and countrywide debt with a very high minimum wage of $13.00/ hour. It has the 5th largest economy in the world and is overall very stable at a annual GDP growth rate currently sitting around 2% since 2004. Public debt is kept exceptionally low with the government placing high importance on keeping borrowing to a minimum and issuing austerity measures when the economy is on a downfall. Main trades in resources are coal, steel, wood and fresh water, trees that are deforested are replanted to keep the damage on the environment as low as possible.
Lombardia thrives off of a rich mixed economic system in which the north of the country is very industrial and focuses on the production of steel, aluminum and coal which are traded plenty and often with countries such as the U.S.A, Egania (Sam's country), The United Kingdom, and Germany. The south is more focused on agriculture and the export of small, high quality products which make up the majority of the GDP. These high quality products include things such as clothing and fashion labels as well as high quality cars, jewellery, furniture as well as many other products led by small or large companies. The main export for cars include countries such as:
1. Great Britain: Great Britain usually settles for more high-end products from the production lines of Ferrari and Lamborghini, however it is also a main export partner for smaller hatchbacks made by Alfa-Romeo.
2. Germany: Germany is the largest export partner in the world for the small Alfa-Romeo hatchbacks and sports cars. It is also the by far largest export for Fiat vehicles.
3. The United States: Exports to the U.S.A are almost exclusively in high-end super cars in the form of loud and powerful Maseratis, even louder and even more powerful Ferraris and near ear-drum-bursting and space-shuttle-fast Lamborghinis.
4. Aotearoa (Alex's (9C) country): Aotearoa is another large export for Fiats and Alfa-Romeos due to the Kiwi population not being very fond of high power cars that they will not use too often.
5. Russia. Russia is not very big in the car production industry, therefore they require the high quality western cars which are usually of German origin but sometimes can come from Fiat or Alfa, and very occasionally from Lamborghini for the rich multi-millionaires in the country.
The economy is the second largest in the euro-zone with low personal and countrywide debt with a very high minimum wage of $13.00/ hour. It has the 5th largest economy in the world and is overall very stable at a annual GDP growth rate currently sitting around 2% since 2004. Public debt is kept exceptionally low with the government placing high importance on keeping borrowing to a minimum and issuing austerity measures when the economy is on a downfall. Main trades in resources are coal, steel, wood and fresh water, trees that are deforested are replanted to keep the damage on the environment as low as possible.
I chose to make my economic a free market economy for multiple reasons, the biggest of which is that it supports small start-up companies which are of utmost importance for my utopia. It supports start-up companies by giving them a much more simple way to get on to the market than is seen in a controlled market system where people are assigned what they are allowed to build and trade which would make my economy a lot more work with all the small companies that the Italian peninsula is famous for. Furthermore the free market system further encourages my ideology of having a country where the people are very free to do what they want when it comes to making a living for themselves.
The main industrial alloys that will be made by my industrial north will be steel, aluminium and coal for many reasons, the best of which is that all three metals have a very high demand in or current day and age. Steel is used religiously in the construction of large buildings which are a constant source of income, aluminium is used in thousands of different production cycles: all the way from car production to the production of aluminium foil it is one of the most profitable metals right now for its brilliant properties. Finally coal is still one of the leading energy production methods globally, and to add to the profit that can be made on coal, it is a fossil fuel, meaning that it will eventually run out, making it one of the most demanded products in the world.
I chose to focus a lot on the productions of small companies as this is already one of the largest sources of income for Italy in real life according to the CIA World Fact Book. Furthermore Italian products, especially clothing and cars are hailed as some of the world most exquisite and best products that you could possibly ever buy.
Finally the high minimum wage is a way to keep the entirety of the working population motivated to continue doing work as well as giving back to them what they are giving to the countries overall economy through their working careers. It keeps the population happy.
The main industrial alloys that will be made by my industrial north will be steel, aluminium and coal for many reasons, the best of which is that all three metals have a very high demand in or current day and age. Steel is used religiously in the construction of large buildings which are a constant source of income, aluminium is used in thousands of different production cycles: all the way from car production to the production of aluminium foil it is one of the most profitable metals right now for its brilliant properties. Finally coal is still one of the leading energy production methods globally, and to add to the profit that can be made on coal, it is a fossil fuel, meaning that it will eventually run out, making it one of the most demanded products in the world.
I chose to focus a lot on the productions of small companies as this is already one of the largest sources of income for Italy in real life according to the CIA World Fact Book. Furthermore Italian products, especially clothing and cars are hailed as some of the world most exquisite and best products that you could possibly ever buy.
Finally the high minimum wage is a way to keep the entirety of the working population motivated to continue doing work as well as giving back to them what they are giving to the countries overall economy through their working careers. It keeps the population happy.
Military
There where be no national service for the military in Lombardia. Military service is not a necessary deed to complete, but it would make a well-paid pass-time job for people exiting college or university. Furthermore members of the army are given slightly lower taxes on almost everything (approximately 0.1% lower). Military service is in this country is highly appreciated and small business owners are encouraged to give slight discounts to army veterans. Once a (wo)man who had previously entered the military, leave their military service they are benched as possible soldiers for wars five years into the future. Once enrolled in military service, people must stay for at least 5 years.
The approximate budget for the military on an annual basis is around US$12 billion, which would put it under that of its neighbour Italy, however the majority of Lombardia's military spendings go into technology rather than a lot of soldiers, making it the second most advanced nation in military technology only being edged out by the U.S.A. The current statistics for the Bicolores (the nickname for the army) is:
Active Personnel: ~50 000 men and women
Benched Personnel: ~326 000 men and women
Aircraft: 967 Aircraft
Aircraft Carriers: 1
Navy: 107 Ships in total
Tanks: 3089
Artillery of any sort: 369
People above the age of forty cannot newly enrol in the military unless they choose to become cooks, medics or any other non-combat positions, however if a person is under the age of forty when the enrol in combat positions, then they can retain that role until they have reached the age of fifty, where they must either retire into a non-combat position or retire from the military entirely. Military positions are paid well by the state at around $50k annually depending on what position you take, with foot soldiers, jet pilots and ship captains being the highest paid 'ordinary' positions while battle commanders are paid the most of any on-field-unit. Cooks are paid the least of any position with a healthy salary of $40k annually.
The approximate budget for the military on an annual basis is around US$12 billion, which would put it under that of its neighbour Italy, however the majority of Lombardia's military spendings go into technology rather than a lot of soldiers, making it the second most advanced nation in military technology only being edged out by the U.S.A. The current statistics for the Bicolores (the nickname for the army) is:
Active Personnel: ~50 000 men and women
Benched Personnel: ~326 000 men and women
Aircraft: 967 Aircraft
Aircraft Carriers: 1
Navy: 107 Ships in total
Tanks: 3089
Artillery of any sort: 369
People above the age of forty cannot newly enrol in the military unless they choose to become cooks, medics or any other non-combat positions, however if a person is under the age of forty when the enrol in combat positions, then they can retain that role until they have reached the age of fifty, where they must either retire into a non-combat position or retire from the military entirely. Military positions are paid well by the state at around $50k annually depending on what position you take, with foot soldiers, jet pilots and ship captains being the highest paid 'ordinary' positions while battle commanders are paid the most of any on-field-unit. Cooks are paid the least of any position with a healthy salary of $40k annually.
I chose to make my military in this very distinct style due to the fact that my utopia should still be able to defend itself from the highly unlikely outsider attacks as well as still giving the people of the country a choice of whether or not they want to join the military and take the risk. Many people will steer away from the military and are not punished, it is just that the people who do join the military will be given respect by the citizens and the government for their service.
Law
Lombardia functions using the civil law system as does the majority of the European continent. Civil law is often very contrasting to the British and American common law system. Civil Law has its most important features in a codex of law from which judges raw their conclusions more on the rights of the people rather than the crimes they have committed. Common law in the meantime has its conclusions drawn by the judges in a very different manner where they consult what has been done in the last with similar situations to the convicted.
Lombardia has some typical major laws which are accepted as unacceptable all around the globe, these major laws consist of:
1. Murder: those who are convicted of this terrible crime are given a life-long prison sentence rather than capital punishment. Furthermore murderers are to consult therapists on a weekly basis which will determine whether or not the the persons mental condition is healthy or improving. Their sentences could be shortened due to these tests.
2. Rape: those who are convicted as rapists are given similar punishments to that of murderers except that they need to go to therapy once every two weeks.
3. Paedophiles: those who are convicted of paedophilia are to receive the same exact sentence as those convicted of rape.
Capital punishment is not accepted in Lombardia.
Some smaller, exclusive-to-this-nation laws include:
1. Public insulting of other religions unless the action is allowed by the local government. Every person is equal and their beliefs should not cause them to be mocked. Being convicted of this crime results in a $5000 fine.
2. Sabotage of other people's freedom or calmness unless specifically warning that person. Accidents such as car accidents do not fall under this law. Things such as loud house-parties are more applicable to this law. If convicted this causes a $1000 fine. People should be able to live a fun and calm life and an unauthorised disturbance of this is unfair towards that person.
Lombardia has some typical major laws which are accepted as unacceptable all around the globe, these major laws consist of:
1. Murder: those who are convicted of this terrible crime are given a life-long prison sentence rather than capital punishment. Furthermore murderers are to consult therapists on a weekly basis which will determine whether or not the the persons mental condition is healthy or improving. Their sentences could be shortened due to these tests.
2. Rape: those who are convicted as rapists are given similar punishments to that of murderers except that they need to go to therapy once every two weeks.
3. Paedophiles: those who are convicted of paedophilia are to receive the same exact sentence as those convicted of rape.
Capital punishment is not accepted in Lombardia.
Some smaller, exclusive-to-this-nation laws include:
1. Public insulting of other religions unless the action is allowed by the local government. Every person is equal and their beliefs should not cause them to be mocked. Being convicted of this crime results in a $5000 fine.
2. Sabotage of other people's freedom or calmness unless specifically warning that person. Accidents such as car accidents do not fall under this law. Things such as loud house-parties are more applicable to this law. If convicted this causes a $1000 fine. People should be able to live a fun and calm life and an unauthorised disturbance of this is unfair towards that person.
I chose the Civil Law mostly for traditional reason. The Italian peninsula has been ruled by a sort of civil law system for the entirety of its existence which would make it impossible to completely abolish. Furthermore Civil law is very widespread throughout Europe and is working very well in each of those countries.
The typical major laws do not need much explaining but the lack of capital punishment does. I decided against the concept of capital punishment as every person should be given a fair amount of time to be rehabilitated, furthermore capital punishment will only end another life, which will cause more pain to more people as another loved one would have been lost.
The explanation to my final two laws is given in the bullet point.
The typical major laws do not need much explaining but the lack of capital punishment does. I decided against the concept of capital punishment as every person should be given a fair amount of time to be rehabilitated, furthermore capital punishment will only end another life, which will cause more pain to more people as another loved one would have been lost.
The explanation to my final two laws is given in the bullet point.
Government Type
Lombardia is ruled by a federation whose main seat is in the capital city of Rome. A federation is a country in which multiple smaller state governments rule over their states while the central government does the big decisions for the country and does not have to worry about every single state at once. Federations usually consist of multiple ethnicities and are usually quite large countries. The Lombardian federation consists of 10 different states with a few different ethnicities, the main two of which are Italian and German.
The way the federation works Lombardia is that, say a road needs to be repaired in a small town, the mayor of this town then contacts the regional office, who pass the message onwards to the states government, who organise the repairs and directly contact the mayor of the city to investigate upon the damages to see how large the damage that needs repairing is. The costs of this will then be sent to the central government who pass the prices on to the central bank who then calculate the prices into the GDP. This process is incredibly simple and quite fast as half of the steps are completed after the repairs are managed. The regional governments do not need permission from the central government to perform small actions like this, however as soon as a regional government wants to construct a structure which crosses into another state, the central government is contacted.
Voting for a new president is done every five years and presidents can stay in office for a total of two runs before they must give up their position in hopes of having a balanced country. Annual censuses are passed around by regional governments to see if the central government needs to be exchanged for drastic reasons, the central government has no power over these censuses as they are completed at random times and counted by non-bias secretly chosen people.
The way the federation works Lombardia is that, say a road needs to be repaired in a small town, the mayor of this town then contacts the regional office, who pass the message onwards to the states government, who organise the repairs and directly contact the mayor of the city to investigate upon the damages to see how large the damage that needs repairing is. The costs of this will then be sent to the central government who pass the prices on to the central bank who then calculate the prices into the GDP. This process is incredibly simple and quite fast as half of the steps are completed after the repairs are managed. The regional governments do not need permission from the central government to perform small actions like this, however as soon as a regional government wants to construct a structure which crosses into another state, the central government is contacted.
Voting for a new president is done every five years and presidents can stay in office for a total of two runs before they must give up their position in hopes of having a balanced country. Annual censuses are passed around by regional governments to see if the central government needs to be exchanged for drastic reasons, the central government has no power over these censuses as they are completed at random times and counted by non-bias secretly chosen people.
I chose this to be my government type as it is highly efficient for a country with multiple quite large states, with different ethnicities, in it and can effectively complete even very small tasks which usually tend to be a lot easier to miss than larger inconveniences. Furthermore it was very easy to organise the government system with how they would manage to communicate with each other. I chose the way that I have labelled above as it is very efficient and easy to follow. Finally I made the voting the way it is to give the people complete control over the government even when the government has been elected into the five year period.
The utopian country that is Lombardia has a very open feeling to religion with people having to accept any religion that they may come across without judging people for their beliefs. The thought of having free-thought is a very utopian concept due to people being seen as equal no matter which deity they follow especially after how modern society is extremely stereotypical about religion. The government will ensure through schooling (religion is taught as a subject) that all religion is equally acceptable and that these stereotypical thoughts are not only incorrect, but unacceptable and in this case even illegal.
To ensure that all communities of certain religions in towns or cities feel equally accepted, they must only ask the mayors to build a religious building in that area and a public petition will be made in which everyone can sign depending on whether or not they feel that the building should be built. The religion percentages will be seen on the graph to the right. I chose to make my religion this way to evoke the complete feeling of freedom in the people and their beliefs. It will make people a lot more open about their cultures and can improve the living conditions and diversity in my utopian country. Finally I feel as though it is an important step to having a complete and multi-cultural country from which you can learn a lot.
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