A Tale of Two Tyrants: Civics Lessons from NationStates

Did anyone else ever use NationStates? It’s a nation-building simulator that allows you to inflict your political views, unopposed, on a defenseless populace. My friends all used it in middle school, and it was enjoyable—until my budding-conservative middle-school self became frustrated that despite my best efforts, my nation kept slipping into liberal socialism.

Subscribe now

I’d completely forgotten about NationStates until an indoctrination session riveting conversation about politics with our...