The California City of Carmel by the Sea is a massive, orderly nation, ruled by Dave Potter with an iron fist, and renowned for its state-planned economy. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 1.35 billion Carmelians are ruled with an iron fist by the socialist government, which grants its people the freedom to do whatever they like so long as it doesn't involve getting richer than anybody else or challenging the government.

The large, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Healthcare, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Carmel Point. The average income tax rate is 40.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Carmelian economy, worth 22.0 trillion canvases a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient black market in Cheese Exports, Information Technology, Pizza Delivery, and Furniture Restoration. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 16,298 canvases, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The regional delicacy of chocolate bombes is deadlier than an unexploded bomb, all beauty contests have been banned, barbed wire entanglements and guard towers surround the Carmel Point Natural History Museum, and rare steaks seem even bluer now. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Carmel by the Sea's national animal is the sea otter.

Carmel by the Sea is ranked 189,813^th in the world and 35^th in New Republic Charter for Largest Governments, scoring 11.14 on the Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index.