The Free Republic of Atlasia / 亚特莱西亚自由共和国
What if Ayn Rand made a country?
At-LAY-zha: the green money-lovers.
Table of Contents
Geography
Atlasia borders Bauhinia on the south, shares a short border with Fanton on the southwest, Westavia on the west, Moreland on the northwest, and shares a short border with Sylvandia on the north.
It is mostly fertile plains suitable for growing rice, wheat, and corn, with some mountain ranges near its border with Westavia and Moreland called the Atlasian Mountains. Mt. Atlas, the tallest mountain on the continent, stands between Atlasia and Moreland.
The closest geographical mirror to Atlasia is northern China.
Regions
Government
The Atlasian government consists only of the judicial courts, law enforcement (police), and the military. The courts mostly only settle contract and property disputes; the police mostly enforce property laws; and the military have such a hard time getting recruits they resort to manipulation and coercion — since mandatory drafting would blow the Atlasians' minds. See section economy for the corporations filling in the gap.
Foreign relations
Atlasia is on Bauhinia's side in the cold war against Moreland. All other countries (except Bauhinia) have issued travel warnings to Atlasia because of how hot of a mess it is over there, and in retaliation Atlasia have travel warnings for those countries as well, which is pretty stupidly funny.
Atlasia's rampant criminal (in other countries' definitions of "criminal") activities leaking out into other countries has always been a pain in the ass for everyone, including Bauhinia.
Economy
Private corporations dominate in Atlasia's laissez-faire economy. Notable industries include:
- Fire, and other disaster prevention. If you can't afford the protection fees, we would leave you to burn. If your fire leaks to other houses under our protection, we might put out yours and charge you the complete fees, forcing you into debt!
- Healthcare. We all know where this is going.
- Prison. Work or die.
- And well, more.
They're all controlled by either monopolies or oligopolies.
Aside from that, criminal activities (as defined by other countries — they certainly aren't "criminal" here) is rampant in Atlasia as people used every tactic imaginable to achieve their goals.
Society
Personal freedom is the pillar of Atlasian society. Anything that remotely infringes on that is immediately seen as authoritarian and vehemently opposed.
Marriage as an institution is abolished. Nobody can dictate who you can or can't be with.
Also, there is no age where you "legally turn into an adult." You're considered mature enough when you consider yourself mature enough. Although, the consensus is whenever you hit puberty.1
Naming conventions
Parents don't get to name their kids. Kids decide their own names. You can change your name, gender, or even race anytime you want — it's up to you. Though, people don't change names, especially last names, that often, because it's a pain for other people as well as themselves. Most settle down in their teenage years.
Aside from that, Atlasia's naming conventions mirrors our western world, with a given name, an optional middle name, and a family name. For example, "Jackpot Cloudy" and "Snake Cloudy."
Since marriage isn't a thing anymore, women don't tend to change their last names to their boyfriend's, though some people are just assholes and would make their girlfriends change them anyways (such as Jackpot's father) to signify an official, long-lasting relationship. But there are still scarcely men changing their last names to their girlfriend's.
Espionage
Atlasia is a country rife with espionage activity both political and corporate, because of its vast economic and political freedom. The capital, The Capital, is the de-facto spy capital of the world, where you can find agents of every country working for every goal using every tactic imaginable.
History
Atlasia was created by Moose immigrants after the Guardian Moose Takeover (Morelandian Revolution). They hated the new regime, so they made their own the way they liked it.
They took the plains in the east and declared independence shortly after Fanton did. During the process of establishing the new republic, they drove away many native residents of the plains into either Moreland, Westavia, or Bauhinia.
Trivia
It's kinda cringe, Atlasia is based off of Ayn Rand's works. I never actually read them. But I plan to. I just gotta read through all the Captain Underpants books for the 100th time first.
I just thought this would be an interesting concept to explore. I mean, people always seem to either defend her ideas to the death or outright dismiss all of them. It seems that no one had ever thought about how a country that puts Rand's ideas to practice would look like. (I know because I once asked a half-ass terribly-worded question on Reddit before. They said the closest example would be gilded-age USA.)
So here I am. I'm doing it.
My thought process is basically, what are some things that involves the government? And then take the government out of it. Turns out once you start thinking about it, a lot of things involve the government. Name changes need to go through the government. Okay now they don't. Buying a car? The government gives you the license plate. Okay now license plates are no more. Just get a car and drive. Passports are issued by the government. Okay, passports are no more. Leave anytime. (What about people coming in? I genuinely need to think about this.)