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As a follow on from Off-Topic in general, with various cultural identities being very present, I thought this might be something interesting to look into.

Basically, if you were designing a country from the ground up, what would you consider to be essential to the well-being/survival/success/etc of both the country and its citizens?
Provided you can provide reasoning, post anything. Just be prepared to defend it from everyone else.

Please, offer your thoughts.

Independent power.
Oil is the big one, with gas (natural) being another, which countries rely on, but often have to buy in.
Once you have stable a power infrastructure, most other things can happen. Water falls out of the sky, and plants grow when well lit.

Specifically oil and gas? Or does independent power extend to alternative energies?
Is this tied to political aspects? Nationalised, subsidised, capitalist, etc?

Cheers.

 Farseer Anath'lan wrote:
Specifically oil and gas? Or does independent power extend to alternative energies?

Logically country with access to non-oil/gas energy would be in better shape than one that doesn't but has more oil/gas. Those will run out so...Better to have access to independent energy that doesn't have time limit(well everything has time limit but some have long enough that they can be considered infinite for practical purposes

Fertile soil and nuclear power plants. Fertile soil brings food and wealth, nuclear power plants bring security (through the development of nuclear weapons) and a renewable power source.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Fertile soil and nuclear power plants. Fertile soil brings food and wealth, nuclear power plants bring security (through the development of nuclear weapons) and a renewable power source.

That's before Uranium runs out, though.

Fertile soil, a nuclear program and a strong nationalized R&D center are what I'd consider vital. Science rules.

My country will be all about Twinkies, a Pony for every citizen, and Gladitorial Justice!

A properly laid out governmental framework is probably the thing I'd look for first. Resources, economics, science, etc with the right know how can be managed, but its all kind of moot if the state itself is dysfunctional. I think you especially want a functioning judiciary and law making apparatus.

After that it shouldn't be too hard to provide basic human rights, freedoms, food, and power. I'm just assuming here that no one is dumb enough to start a country on a barren wasteland devoid of resources. You use what you got, trade for what you don't.

This is a subjective, possibly frivolous rant, but as "I'm designing a country from the ground up", here goes. My ideal country would have no cats, reality shows, powdered anything, 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor, cars I can lift the back end of, airplanes with no leg or shoulder room, trophy hunting, coal, anyone that thinks the world is 5000 years old, televangelists, HSN/QVC or the like, race-specific anything, Citizens United, turtlenecks, Public Pension Funds, flavored martinis, anything "too big to fail", highway speed limits less than 70mph, politicians serving more than 3 terms in their office, politicians getting free medical insurance coverage, zoos that don't provide large enough habitats for their animals...same with aquariums, exotic animals as pets, public universities whose tuition is higher than 20% of the medium income, debt to GDP higher than 30%...except in times of extreme crisis, cheaply made cigars, light beer, near beer, vapor anything, hint of theocracy, jobs without built in maternity leave...I just realized this could go on and on and I have to mow the lawn, peace out!

 BigWaaagh wrote:
This is a subjective, possibly frivolous rant, but as "I'm designing a country from the ground up", here goes. My ideal country would have no cats, reality shows, powdered anything, 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor, cars I can lift the back end of, airplanes with no leg or shoulder room, trophy hunting, coal, anyone that thinks the world is 5000 years old, televangelists, HSN/QVC or the like, race-specific anything, Citizens United, turtlenecks, Public Pension Funds, flavored martinis, anything "too big to fail", highway speed limits less than 70mph, politicians serving more than 3 terms in their office, politicians getting free medical insurance coverage, zoos that don't provide large enough habitats for their animals...same with aquariums, exotic animals as pets, public universities whose tuition is higher than 20% of the medium income, debt to GDP higher than 30%...except in times of extreme crisis, cheaply made cigars, light beer, near beer, vapor anything, hint of theocracy, jobs without built in maternity leave...I just realized this could go on and on and I have to mow the lawn, peace out!

Presumably your ideal country would have emo lawns. It would cut itself

 BigWaaagh wrote:
reality shows,

Oh that reminds me. The only reality shows allowed on Hattnlandn TV will be Cops, and anything with Simon Cowel or Gordon Ramsay screaming at people with insane insults;

- Starting Position on the Planet
- Intelligent and Creative People
- Neighbours yes/no ? , if yes who ?

If we are talking about setting down a new country in 2016... Hmm. I would say a constitution, just laws, power with the aim of moving toward renewable, an intellectually engaged population. I don't necessarily mean university educated just engaged and of course the ability to defend yourself.

If there is anything the various Civilization games have taught me, it's that a good mix of natural resources (biological and mineral) are vitally important. Being the guy with all the coal doesn't help when everybody else is on nuclear tech.

Other than that, just laws, good healthcare, and good governance can go a long way.

The rule of law is the bedrock that has to exist in order for the rest of society to function. Most other factors, apart from some form of natural resources, are subject to debate (capitalism vs. communism, liberalism vs. conservatism etc.), but all serious models of society agree on the rule of law being paramount. There's no point in trying to set anything else up if the rules don't work, after all (looking at you, GW! ).

So, resources, strong law foundation. Few mentions of self-defense and nuclear capabilities.

There was mention of nationalised R&D. Is this something other people would consider desirable?

How about political systems? Socialist, Communist, Capitalist, something else? FTPT, Proportional Rep, some different again?

Barring that, are there specific laws yo'd see as desirable?

Cheers guys, been sounding good.

Self sufficiency in energy and food production.

Wealth and educational equality.

With those 4 things any nation would be an absolute powerhouse.

Be founded somewhere with access to Geothermal power. It is very clean, will effectively never run out and is reliable.

Strong human rights and well written laws which are upheld in a fair, well run justice system.

Equal access to education and healthcare, regardless of personal wealth.

Fertile lands for agriculture.

Very importantly, an evolving culture producing new art, music, film, television etc. to keep society moving forwards, challenging preconceptions. Otherwise your society can stagnate and become stuck in the past, which will lead to issues.

Guns and people, with just the right sprinkle of paramilitarism and nationalism and a touch of fascism.
Then take whatever you need from the neighbours.



Heart of Iron 4 is a great teacher.

 Farseer Anath'lan wrote:
How about political systems? Socialist, Communist, Capitalist, something else? FTPT, Proportional Rep, some different again?

Obviously democratic principals are preferred over alternative schemes, but those can take many forms; direct, parliamentary, federal republic, etc. I think the size of the population, and its cultural values, play a big role in what works and what doesn't, such that just declaring a single political model "the best" is a doomed endeavor. I rather like the idea of direct democracy, but unless you're a relatively small country like Switzerland, it is impractical. I don't think you can operate a direct democracy with a population as large as 300,000,000 (like the US).