My Utopia - so what's yours?

After a few rounds, I’ve taken on Bananistan and created a Utopia. The same set also worked for Russia, UK and USA. My achievenments were: Economic Miracle, Socialist Paradise, Technological Superiority and Crime Free Utopia. (Just outta curiosity, what are the other ones?) I’ve had no reds (i.e. stuff like Tax Evasion), built up a nice reserve and was still making money.

Basically I maxed out on education, (State Schools, Free Meals, Science Funding, Adult Education, Technology Colleges, Public Libraries, University Grants and Youth Club Subsidies). Also maxed out on my State Health Services, Free Eye Tests and Stem Cell Research. Creationism I kinda didn’t care enough about to change.

On Welfare I maxed out on Housing, placed a high value on pensions, low on unemployement compensation (my unemployement was 0), maxed out on childcare provision (are you guys noticing that I kinda love the little brats) and Child benefit was in the middle, maxed out on disability benefit and winter fuel subsidies, with vets benefit in the middle.

For economy I maxed out on all three grants, (rural development, small business and technology) clean air subsidies, pollution controls, plastic bag tax and organic farming subsidies. Materinity leave and labor laws I had in the middle, as well as tax shelters.

Foreign Policy I had army set to highly trained, and maxed out on border controls and citizenship tests. Also had a “high” on foreign aid and had low on import tariffs (that’s how I regulate my unemployement, if everyone’s employed, I lower, if there’s unemployement over 5%, I raise to compensate).

Transportation I maxed out on telecommuting initiative, monorail, rail subsidies, free bus passes, bus subsidies clean fuel subsidiy, and of course school busses. Had some expansion on road contruction and medium on bus lanes.

On crime I was tough. Liberals hate me here hehe. Actually wealthy, capitalists and liberals are the only groups that I don’t win. Not that I care, I still get 70-80% of the vote, depending on the economy and weather or not terrorists strike. How they do it, I don’t know, I max out my intelligence agency, phone tapping, prisoner tagging, and have prisons at medium. I also have my police force and armed police at medium and maxed out on community policing. Strict controls on handguns, no narcotics, and for booze and cigarettes minimum age is 18. No narcotics, but maxed out on jury trial and legal aid. Gambling’s at limited stakes and has an age limit.

By now, the astute reader has figured out that I tax everything. That’s very true, I do. All taxes are set between Reasonable and Average to avoid tax evasion or petrol protests. But they do add up. I also max out on micro-generation grants, the hybrid cars initiative, mortgage tax relief and set marriage tax allowance to advantageous.

I have technological advantage and high productivity. What’re some of the other ones I could get. What’s your Utopia like? BTW, it took me 12 years to build this. FDR was in power for 17. I realize that this sounds like a very government controlled state, but keep in mind that education is maxed out and my government is elected with smart people, not the “no child left behind” ones.

I do similar, but I alternate between two minds.

In one mind, when I first started to play the game, I’d do everything I thought was best in real life. I’d do a lot to reduce poverty while trying to avoid creating bad incentives, such as occurs with unemployment benefits. I’d try to avoid or eliminate sales taxes for the equality factor, and instead try to tax mostly everything else (though only average corporate taxes to avoid GDP loss due to international tax competition). I’d often try to avoid creating market distortions with subsidies and “freebies” like winter fuel subsidies, and instead would first try to address the issues through education, high GDP (and unemployment), no regressive sales tax. I’d try to handle crime issues through reducing poverty and using only the traditional crime fighting techniques rather than the extreme measures like armed police and phone tapping. I’d seek to leave immigration alone, increase foreign aid, and reduce the size of the military. For the environment, I’d have all the taxes on fuel, cars, carbon, toll roads, and support most of the clean initiatives to get people to commute or generally not use cars including cutting road funding, but leave everything that has a negative effect on the economy for last. Though I consider carbon tax as not really much of a GDP loss, especially since it seems to be a loss only in that it become government revenues, and is offset anyway by the increased international trade that results from better foreign relations which came from the reduction in carbon output :smiley:

But the other way I play is as a game rather than real life. In this way, I just try to make everyone happy (though I often try to eliminate the religious, motorists, smokers, and drinkers). As usual, I’d max out education and technology, but it would be overkill and I’d actually cut funding to some of the things that only increased already maxed out stats. On immigration I’d always end up with no immigration at all, max foreign aid, citizenship tests. Military would be maxed once I’m flooded with money. I’d answer all the dilemma questions to please the groups that I would have the hardest time pleasing (assuming it’s a group that I can’t just eliminate from existence). When the poor and socialists are maxed out in happiness, I’d cut the policies that the capitalists and wealthy don’t like, or I’d implement policies to please those groups at the expense of the poor and socialists, like implementing gated communities and having tax shelters. I’d implement mortgage tax relief to please the middle class. I’d avoid a carbon tax in order to please “everyone”. These are all things I only do when I play this like a game rather than real life. I haven’t gotten 100% of the votes, but I’ve gotten 99% and had the 1-party state achievement.

ha ha ha, I gues everyone has a VERY different visions of what ‘utopias’ are. I fund all the medical care, school, libraries, almost all that stuff in that segment. I barely fund the police and my (ceremonial) military. Conservatives and the Religious HATE me. I tax petrol and cars heavily (motorists hate me) I usually just tax them out of existance (and if given enough time, get rid of the religious too). Ironically, I’m able to make socialists and capitalists very happy. Getting rid of motorists also makes environmentalists quite happy.

I provide very little to pensions, and fund a little state housing depending on how much homelessness there is. I usually leave whatever levels of unemployment benefits there is. The poor are usually happier than the middle class, and the middle class are happier than the wealthy. I tax income normally, but tax corporations somewhat heavily. Patriots don’t like me. Economically, I fare good because of productivity, technological advantage (or superiority? I forget). Capitalists seem to be influenced more by how well the economy is doing, than by my taxing of corporations. The things I tax are income, corporations, cars, petrol, sometimes sales, and when I feel like sticking it to the rich I tax inheritance (to the max).

I get a bucnh of threats from religious and patriot groups, but I fund the spy agency to the max, usually their assasination attempts fail :mrgreen: The countries where people love me the most are Freedonia and Mexilando.