The Incorporated States of NSC Puppet 178 is a colossal, cultured nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, triple-decker prams, and prohibition of alcohol. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless, devout population of 6.229 billion NSC Puppet 178ians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The large, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Law & Order, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 91.2%.

The frighteningly efficient NSC Puppet 178ian economy, worth a remarkable 1,108 trillion cards a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Retail, Book Publishing, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is rampant. Average income is an impressive 177,938 cards, with the richest citizens earning 5.4 times as much as the poorest.

Major polluting industries have painted a lot of their machines green to give an impression of caring about the environment, the police insist that racism does not exist, the government has adopted a "Lightning Never Strikes Twice" approach to dealing with natural disasters, and new mothers can pay for their weekly grocery shop with a bottle of breast milk. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. NSC Puppet 178's national animal is the legendary, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

NSC Puppet 178 is ranked 27,854^th in the world and 280^th in Two for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 230.4 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.