Social: Pirtuni

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Pirtunian Slavic peoples comprise about 78% of Pirtuni’s population; ethnic Donovians rank as the country’s most significant minority, with 17% of the population. Small enclaves inhabited by several other ethnic groups, including Jews, Magyars, and tribes with roots in the Caucasus, account for the remaining 5% of the total population. Among these, the long-suffering Vandars, whose heritage is grounded in the Mediterranean-North Africa region, are by far the most oppressed historically.

Pirtunian Slavs consider themselves to be a cut above neighboring cultures with whom they are compelled to share the same territory, and have a past record of extreme discrimination when interacting with peoples of Mediterranean-North African origins. When dealing with Slavic counterparts in Eastern European countries, they exhibit a tendency toward discrimination that is only slightly milder. Since the late twentieth century, owing primarily to increasing multicultural pressures tied to increased trade and the growing financial influence of Western Europe, the collective Pirtunian outlook has become marginally more cosmopolitan, with two major exceptions: an abiding hostility toward all things Donovian, and extreme distrust of anything perceived as threatening traditionally conservative religious views, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activism.

Pirtuni has a long history of military prowess and intense nationalism, despite being historically overshadowed in these venues by the overwhelming military power and geopolitical influence of neighboring Donovia. When the latter suffered an almost complete financial collapse in the aftermath of the notorious Four Traitors incident, nationalistic fervor and political consciousness inside Pirtuni increased proportionately in tandem with the growing severity of the unfolding scandal.

Pirtunian, the official language of Pirtuni, is the lingua franca of public administration, the armed forces, and the scientific and technical communities. In provinces north and east of the Dnieper River, as well as selected others bordering the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, Donovian is used in courts, schools, and other government institutions. The literacy rate among Pirtunians stands at nearly 100%, except in a very few isolated areas dominated by a smattering of religious minorities that persist in clinging to exceptionally eccentric views on education.

Pirtuni’s population is overwhelmingly Christian (80%), including mostly Orthodox Christians, Pirtunian Catholics, and Protestants. Followers of Islam and adherents to the Jewish faith respectively account for 17% and 3% of the total population. Pirtuni’s government is ostensibly secular, and most of its citizens are tolerant and believe in the separation of church and state. That said, some of the country’s laws, policies, and religiously-motivated officials tend to marginalize those elements of the population who are non-Christian or perceived as pursuing anti-Christian lifestyles.

Social Statistics for Ariana, Atropia, Gorgas, Limaria, and Donovia

Social Statistics of Pirtuni
Measure	Data			Rank
Age distribution (%)	0–14 years: 15	15–64 years: 69	65 years and up: 16
Median age (years)	Total: 42	Male: 40	Female: 43
Life expectancy (years)	Total: 72	Male: 66	Female: 76	150
Literacy rate (older than 15; %)	Total: 99.8	Male: 99.8	Female: 99.7
Population	45,000,000			30
Population growth rate (%)	1			230
Birth rate (per 1,000)	11			180
Death rate (per 1,000)	15			2
Net migration rate (per 1,000)	-2.0			170
Urban population (%)	70
Annual urbanization rate (%)	-0.33
Fertility rate (per woman)	1.5			150
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000)	8
Ethnic groups (%)	Pirtunian (78); Donovian (17); Other—Jewish, Magyan, Indo- European (5)
Religions (%)	Pirtunian Orthodox (66); Other Christian (14); Muslim (17); Jewish (3)
Languages (%)	Pirtunian (67); Donovian (20); Magyan, Vandar, and Other (13)
Major diseases	Tuberculosis; Typhoid; Diarrheal diseases; HIV/AIDS

Population Movement (Migration/IDPs/Refugees)

According to UN estimates, as the mutual trade embargo between Donovia and Pirtuni has intensified in recent years, more than 800,000 people have been displaced. Over time, the current economic troubles spawned the largest displacement in Europe since the first decade of the twentieth century. Of those displaced, 95% formerly resided in regions east of the Dnieper River, on the Azov Peninsula, and north of the Sea of Azov.

Distinguishing between Pirtuni’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees can be problematic. Many have gravitated toward Pirtuni’s western borders in search of farm work, and also in hopes of

being situated in closer proximity to some of Europe’s more lucrative market-oriented economies. Meanwhile an estimated 387,000 Pirtunian-born ethnic Donovians have applied for refugee status or permanent residency in that country; the total number of Pirtunian-born persons currently residing in Donovia is uncertain. Historically, neither country required visas or other official travel documents to move freely back and forth across their common border. As the Donovia/Pirtuni feud deepened, conditions for disadvantaged elements in Pirtuni already occupying the bottom-most rung on the economic ladder grew even worse, adding fuel to the population displacement crisis.

The Pirtunian government is shouldering a share of the burden to help the displaced. A law recently passed by parliament creates a registry that will track IDPs based on their locale of origin, and connect them with an administrative clearinghouse that will refer them to appropriate social relief agencies. The Greater Western European Co-prosperity Sphere is ramping up resettlement efforts that will provide grants to non-governmental organizations and local municipalities providing IDP aid and infrastructure re-invigoration/regeneration efforts to communities' hardest-hit by the chronic economic recession.

All foreign citizens entering Pirtuni intending to work or reside there for periods exceeding 30 days must register with province-level branches of the State Immigration Service (SIS). Although Pirtunians are generally welcoming to Westerners, especially including Western Europeans, many foreign expatriates are forced to accept positions for which they are overqualified, and also to consign themselves to menial wages. The modest influx of foreigners has not been sufficient to generate resentment among locals relative to competition in the labor market; the greater problem has been an exodus of native workers abandoning their homeland to seek out economic opportunity and a better quality of life in countries throughout Western Europe, and in some cases even the United States. This situation has created a worldwide Pirtunian diaspora with strong economic and emotional connections to its homeland.

Population Distribution

Just under 70% of Pirtuni’s population is urban. The annual urbanization rate of growth is 0.33%. The most important urban areas are as follows: Kyiv (capital), population 2.942 million; Kharkiv, population

1.441 million; Odessa, population 1.01 million; Dnipropetrovsk, population 987,000; Donetsk, population 934,000; and Zaporizhzhya, population 753,000.

Demographic Mix

Seventy-eight percent of the country’s inhabitants are grounded in the Pirtunian Slavic heritage, with Donovians comprising the largest minority group, accounting for 17% of the population. The remaining 5% consists of Sephardic Jews, a smattering of Eastern European Slavic peoples, and a small Caucasus diaspora, mainly ethnic Vandars. As a consequence of a weak to nonexistent national tradition of diversity and ethnic coexistence, most minority groups in Pirtuni live in self-contained enclaves whose members prefer to minimize contact with outsiders, despite the fact that majority and minority populations all officially share a common nationality.

The birthrate in Pirtuni is 11 births per thousand in population, which is lower than the death rate that stands at 15 per thousand. The population’s gender/sex ratio is about even until the 55–64 years age group level, with female Pirtunians subsequently tending to live longer than their male counterparts. Pirtuni performs poorly in all dimensions of population dynamics, including a total fertility rate substantially below that required to sustain population replacement, plus an excess of deaths over births that has prevailed since late in the last century.

Social Volatility

For reasons connected with the demographic mix discussed above, Pirtuni’s social volatility is extremely high. The seismic economic upheaval produced by Donovia’s Four Traitors incident left many Pirtunians feeling that a unique historical moment had finally arrived that would let them assume their rightful place as a major Donovian rival. Many Pirtunian citizens of ethnic Donovian heritage now feel threatened by a new militant nationalism that currently pervades all walks of Pirtunian society.

In some ethnic Donovian enclaves, ultra-Pirtunian radicalism has inspired a reactionary push-back phenomenon. Social awareness among ethnic Donovians is approaching a level of hypersensitivity sufficient to inspire growing numbers of them to seek refuge in the transnational True Pan-Donovian Movement. Purveyors of this cause exploit the nostalgic appeal of historical, ethnic, and cultural heritage to exhort prospective followers to agitate in favor of uniting all Donovian-speaking peoples under a single, overarching political regime.

This turn of events has predictably stoked ethnic tensions between peoples who technically share a common birthright as Pirtunian citizens. The radical fringe of ultra-nationalists includes individuals who want to seize what they perceive as a unique historical/revolutionary moment by making their own personal contribution to a cause greater than themselves. Since the Four Traitors incident many militant super-patriots have joined the Pirtuni Forever insurgency, even to the extent of participating in its direct action cells that, over time, have become increasingly violent.

Other factors besides ethnicity have also created strain in Pirtuni. The country’s population has declined steadily since the late twentieth century, losing about 6.5 million over the past 25 years. Statistics maintained by the United Nations indicate that this downward trend in population will continue until 2050, when it is expected to bottom out at about 35 million. In contrast with some of its neighbors, most notably Donovia, the gap between deaths and births is continuing, and projected to stay on the same trajectory indefinitely.

The premature mortality rate for working-age men, and increasingly for younger males as well, is at a crisis level. Poor lifestyle choices are fueling this downward spiral; these include excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, poor diet, and an almost total disregard for physical exercise. These issues are exacerbated by an inadequate healthcare delivery system, and a pervasive sense of social malaise stemming from stress typically grounded in individual feelings of little or no control over one’s personal destiny and expectations for the future. Approximately one-fifth of the country’s 18–30 year olds suffer from untreated hypertension.

Pirtuni has the highest mortality rate from infectious disease (primarily HIV and tuberculosis) in the entire European region, surpassing even Donovia. HIV infection, however, remains a relatively low contributor to the country’s overall mortality rate, compared to deaths caused by non-communicable diseases and injuries. Life expectancy in Pirtuni is lower than in Western countries, but higher than in Donovia.

National demographic trends in Pirtuni are negatively impacting the country’s available personnel pool for military conscription (compulsory for males 20–27 years of age, including a 24-month period of active service). The number of Pirtunian military-age males has been trending downward since the turn of the century, and is expected to bottom out in a few years at a level about half of what it was when the decline began; little or no upswing is predicted for the foreseeable future. In the coming decades it goes almost without saying that trends impacting military-age males will fluctuate in tandem with those affecting the country’s national labor force: both personnel pools are shrinking.

Aggregate statistics reflecting Pirtuni’s national trends mask considerable regional variations affecting the age and health of local populations. Retirees and older populations concentrated in the country’s east, south, and center, as well as other factors related to health and disease—such as alcohol abuse and heart disease—translate into higher death rates in these regions than in the western part of the country. Life expectancy for men is 3–4 years higher in the west than in the south and east. Although western Pirtuni does not have a healthy population by developed world standards, in some respects it at least resembles the poorly-developed parts of the European Union, while the remainder of Pirtuni lags far behind.

Education Level

Pirtuni enjoys a literacy rate that exceeds 99.5% for both males and females. Government officials and agencies make the country’s educational system the recipient of benevolent attention and abundant resources. Widespread educational institutions are the norm, from day-care and kindergarten through university and conservatory levels. Elementary/primary education is compulsory, and begins at the age of 6–7 years. Basic School, the second and highest level of national compulsory education, provides a link to trade schools, institutions of higher learning, and other continuous-education systems. Upon completion of Basic School, students aged 14–16 receive a completion certificate that enables them to pursue more-advanced educational opportunities at their own discretion. Unfortunately, the prolonged economic downturn brought on by the aftershocks of the Donovian Four Traitors incident as well as a trade embargo with Donovia have forced many young Pirtunians with advanced degrees to accept low- paying positions for which they are profoundly overqualified.

Ethnic Diversity

Pirtuni has a diverse range of ethnic groups, each of which has a distinctive culture and belief system. Currently a majority of the population self-identifies as either Pirtunian or Donovian. However, there are lesser-known ethnic groups that have resided inside the country for centuries. According to a commonly-accepted standard of sociology, an ethnic group is a band of people who share a common historical tradition and identity, and in some cases a geographical residence. Seventy-eight percent of Pirtuni’s citizens are grounded in the Pirtunian Slavic heritage, with Donovian Arabs comprising the country’s largest minority group, accounting for 17% of the population. The remaining 5% of the citizenry include a smattering of Eastern European Slavic peoples, Sephardic Jews, and a small enclave of ethnic Vandars who live in self-contained enclaves and claim historic ties to the North Caucasus region. Westerners should bear in mind that ethnic diversity in Pirtuni bears little or no resemblance to the kind of cultural “melting pot” concept familiar among North Americans, for example. Peaceful coexistence is the exception rather than the rule in Pirtuni, where cultural enmity has persisted for centuries and where wars and revolutions have too often provided a pretext for settling ancient cultural scores.

Religious Diversity

Religion in Pirtuni is fairly homogenous, from the vantage point of its largest ethnic groups. The country’s population is overwhelmingly Christian, including mostly Orthodox Christians, Pirtunian Catholics, and Protestants. The Pirtunian Catholic Church is an historical offshoot of the Church of Rome, but neither church recognizes the other’s authority. Followers of Islam and adherents to the Jewish faith respectively account for 17% and 3% of the total population. Pirtuni’s government is ostensibly secular, and most of its citizens are tolerant and believe in the separation of church and state. That said, some of the country’s laws, policies, and religiously-motivated officials tend to marginalize those elements of the population who are non-Christian.

Common Languages

Language is another cultural factor reflective of Pirtuni’s homogeneity. Pirtunian, the country’s official language, is the lingua franca of public administration, the armed forces, and the scientific and technical communities. Sixty-seven percent of the population speaks the official language. Legislation passed three years ago provides for establishing regional languages in provinces where non-Pirtunian cultures predominate. Thus as an exception and for all practical purposes, in all provinces north and east of the Dnieper River, as well as those bordering the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (Sandini, Tazini, and Zanzini), Donovian is used in courts, schools, and other government institutions. Twenty percent of Pirtuni’s citizens consider Donovian to be their native tongue.

Criminal Activity

Crime assumes a number of different guises in Pirtuni, and typical offenses include corrupt activities undertaken to line the pockets of corporate magnates and public officials at all levels. Drug trafficking, counterfeiting, illegal wildcat mining, and smuggling a broad spectrum of consumer goods all offer lucrative opportunities for extra-legal profiteering. Organized crime families have successfully penetrated most, if not all, of these illegal activities. Pirtuni’s most prominent organized crime families include the Lysenko Brothers—Aleksander and Anton—who lead a criminal gang of about 50 members that operates throughout the Azov Peninsula; the Bonarenkos, a criminal network that operates primarily in Donetsk in eastern Pirtuni; and the Supremum, a transnational criminal organization headquartered in Odesa, but with tendrils that reach throughout Pirtuni and ultimately link to worldwide criminal networks.

Because energy resources, infrastructure, and production are so vitally important, not only as a sector of the national economy but also as a widespread means of earning a livelihood, it is small wonder that illegal coal mining has surfaced as a major problem north and east of the Dnieper River. Three years ago it was estimated that coal sales occurred at a rate more than 10% above that reflected in official  records. Throughout this region small illegal mines, called kopankas, produce coal far more cheaply than official mines—primarily because it is not taxed, but also because illegal extraction methods can proceed with no regard whatever for limitations on hours worked, workers’ quality of life, or safety hazards. The result is that Pirtuni now has a national reputation for excessive mine-related deaths and injuries that is only exceeded by Olvavna. The Supremum criminal organization is known to be involved with these extra- legal mining operations, which frequently cross the boundary between Pirtuni and Donovia, and occasionally cross other international boundaries between Pirtuni and neighboring countries in Eastern Europe.

These illegal mining activities could not happen without the complicity of corrupt political, business, and organized crime networks that conspire to market contraband coal by selling tonnage kept invisible in officially-maintained records. Three years ago, Pirtuni’s Deputy Minister of Energy confirmed that only 24 official mines remained open north of the Dnieper River. Some unemployed miners, desperate over the prospect of prolonged wholesale mine closures, feel they have no alternative but to work in illegal mines because these at least remain open and constitute a lifeline, however dangerous, that offers affected families a chance at economic survival.

Human Rights

Pirtuni’s record on human rights reflects a commendable aspiration to achieve a standard higher than what prevails among some of its Eastern European neighbors, and the country is gravitating toward embracing norms generally prevalent throughout Western Europe. Despite this positive note, Pirtuni’s

human rights record is spotty at best, indicating progress in some areas, and stagnation, retrenchment, or even backsliding in others. Although the government now formally recognizes the legitimacy of international human rights codified in the United Nations charter, efforts to align domestic procedures and processes with these progressive standards have so far proved disappointing to observers in the international community.

Although allegations of international human rights violations committed by national and provincial-level officials have been substantiated in the past, Pirtunian authorities have made some systemic improvements. Foremost among these is the recently-established National Corruption Resistance Board of Pirtuni (NCRBP), appointment of an NCRBP director, and some preliminary measures initiated by a new Prosecutor General, appointed about two years ago. As yet it is too soon to gauge the effectiveness of these new agencies, but a stubborn, multi-year inquiry into complicity of government officials in human rights violations has so far resulted in few, if any, substantial convictions or administrative punishments. The Lysenko Brothers, the Bonarenkos, and the Supremum lead the list of suspects alleged to be actively involved in frustrating the efforts of the NCRBP.

Prevailing social attitudes among Christians as well as Muslims are stridently intolerant of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. Households headed by people in this demographic category are ineligible to receive legal protections and entitlements available to opposite-sex couples.

Centers of Social Power

The family serves as the cornerstone of Pirtuni’s society. Pirtunians typically celebrate many personal and professional occasions with large social gatherings attended by friends and family members. It is common practice for elderly family members to reside with their married offspring, although this practice proved dysfunctional in the wake of Donovia’s Four Traitors incident when the ensuing housing shortage in Pirtuni forced young couples to live in extremely cramped quarters with their parents.

Church leaders play an important role in ethnic Pirtunian culture, as almost everyone adheres to dominant variants of the Christian and Muslim faiths. As citizens of one of the first countries to establish Christianity as the official state religion, Pirtunians feel a connection to their faith that is increasingly exceptional among the various peoples of both Western and Eastern Europe. Consultation with clergy is the norm among Pirtunians when confronting any major life challenge or decision.

Before Donovia’s Four Traitor’s incident provoked a fundamental reconstitution of Pirtuni’s economic order, a social caste system grounded in a state-run, centrally-managed economy conferred a high social status on anyone with sufficient political clout to obtain luxury goods made available only to members of a ruling political elite. That former social caste system has since given way to a newer one, wherein a few corporate oligarchs have emerged as centers of social power because of immense wealth they have amassed over a short period of time. Members of this new elite now display their status by flaunting prestigious consumer goods available to anyone with sufficient cash to pay for them. Symbols of social power include cars, houses, luxury items, and fashionable clothes and jewelry.

Social and economic inequalities exacerbated by the blatant display of wealth amassed by the new elite class of oligarchs have alienated large segments of Pirtuni’s underprivileged classes. Resentment in some quarters has reached levels sufficient to breed widespread sympathy of the egalitarian/leveling gospel preached by supporters of the Pirtunian People’s Liberation Army (PPLA). Economically- disadvantaged people residing in the poorest neighborhoods in major metropolitan areas now serve as ad hoc personnel pools that offer high potential for PPLA recruiting efforts. Economic/social resentments in these neighborhoods have recently inspired violent protests and demonstrations directed against government authorities.

Basic Cultural Norms and Values

Pirtuni is a proud nation with a strong tradition of nationalistic spirit that borders on militarism. Although still overshadowed by Donovia’s overwhelming military power, the seismic economic upheaval produced by Donovia’s Four Traitors incident left many Pirtunians feeling that a unique historical moment had finally arrived that would let them assume their rightful place as a major Donovian rival. Many Pirtunian citizens of ethnic Donovian heritage now feel threatened by a new militant nationalism that currently pervades all walks of Pirtunian society.

Social interaction in Pirtuni is largely determined by a sense of etiquette prevalent throughout much of Europe. Some local idiosyncrasies include an unwritten law that requires business conversations to be conducted within a personal space of less than an arm’s length. A longstanding tradition of consuming alcohol at business meetings has continued well into the current century. Most Pirtunians are highly suspicious of anyone who declines an invitation to drink vodka.

Customs and Practices

Meeting & Greeting	Pirtunians are very conscious of professional and academic credentials. When initially meeting, they prefer to be addressed by their appropriate title and surname. If a colleague has neither a professional nor academic title, introductions using the prefix “Pan” for men or “Pani” for women are a universally-accepted standard.
Visiting/ Hospitality	Pirtunians enjoy making small talk with people they know and feel they can trust. Such small talk typically occurs at the beginning of a meeting in order to shore-up the comfort level of everyone in attendance. Foreigners are best advised to allow their Pirtunian colleagues to turn the conversation from personal topics to business. Agendas are generally not strictly followed, since Pirtunians view them as little more than very general guides/springboards for further discussion.
Manners	Pirtunians are very polite and hospitable people. Discussions with their fellow countrymen can become animated at times, but this is less the case when conversing with foreigners. Visitors to Pirtunian homes are often asked to remove their shoes; the host or hostess typically provides slippers for guests to wear.
Customs and Practices/ Cultural Dos & Don’ts	Pirtunians typically operate under traditional gender roles. Men will open doors for women, pour their drinks, and light their cigarettes. Smoking is much more prevalent than it is in the US and some other Western countries. Toasting is a very important part of Pirtunian culture, and most toasts are made with vodka. Teetotalers should be ready to invoke medical or other significant excuses for not drinking.
Gifts	Pirtunians bring flowers, a bottle of imported liquor, chocolates, or pastries when invited to someone’s home. Gifts are customarily nicely wrapped, but usually not opened right away. When conducting business in Pirtuni, gifts are not usually exchanged at a first meeting. Pirtunians traditionally exchange gifts among family and close friends on birthdays and the Orthodox Christmas.
Taboos	When giving a gift of flowers, only give in odd numbers and avoid yellow flowers and white lilies, since these are associated with funerals. Some Pirtunians are superstitious and prefer to avoid shaking hands over a threshold, or even passing an object over a threshold, since both of these gestures are thought to bring bad luck.
Personal Space	Foreigners often perceive that little, if any, allowance is made for personal space in Pirtuni. Standing close in lines or very close when speaking is common. Also common is cutting in lines or even shoving in crowds, and should not be taken personally; no one ever apologizes for this. Metro systems in Pirtuni’s large cities can be intimidating for people who have issues with claustrophobia.

 

Marriage Rituals	“Pirtunian Wedding” is the formal name given to the traditional marriage ceremony, both in Pirtuni and in the Pirtunian diaspora. The traditional Pirtunian Wedding features a rich assortment of folk music and singing, dancing, and visual art, with rituals dating back to the pre-Christian era. Over time, ancient pagan traditions and symbols were assimilated into the Christian ceremony. The wedding reception, called a Frondau, can last days and sometime weeks, with dancing, singing, long toasts, and a feast that may extend to the entire community.
Work Week/ Work Hours	Pirtuni’s labor code institutionalizes the forty-hour work week. The code stipulates that the work week is five days in length followed by two days off. Under the law, businesses and organizations have an option of working 6 days a week with 1 day off if considered reasonable, but in any case the total number of hours worked is not to exceed forty hours per week. Despite parameters established by the labor code, occupational safety and health standards in Pirtuni are frequently disregarded because funding constraints limit the number of officials who inspect workplaces, and labor laws provide for only minimal punishment of offenders.
Concept of Time	As a modernizing country gravitating in the direction of sharing cultural standards of Western Europe, Pirtunians make due allowance for the need to use time efficiently. Although they display a laid-back cultural flexibility in following agendas in their business dealings, Pirtunians are more than capable of efficient time management when the need arises as, for example, in the context of conducting military operations.
Dispute Resolution	There are no specific cultural methods for resolving disputes. Pirtuni’s past situates it within the European cultural and historical traditions. Pirtunians therefore prefer to resolve their differences through reason, persuasion, and discourse. When this method fails, Pirtunians rely on their legal system for arbitration and conflict resolution.
Birth Rituals	Birth-related rituals in Pirtuni are especially important and delicate affairs, involving magic rituals and charms, and religious icons. Both a midwife and doctor are present at birth, each with separate and carefully choreographed functions. An important aspect of the midwife’s role is having consecrated herbs and flowers on hand that, according to folk tradition, instill important traits of character. Christenings are consecrated on the tenth day following a birth. Godparent duties are considered a high honor, never to be declined. A priest officiates at the church christening, which is usually followed by a small reception, intentionally limited to a short duration because of the mother’s need to rest. This event is normally held in the home or a local café, with friends and extended family in attendance.
Death Rituals	Pirtunians faithfully observe ancient funeral traditions. A collective repast (wake) follows the funeral service, and is repeated on the ninth and fortieth days, and then again at six and twelve months after demise. An annual remembrance day called Jabordny is commemorated the Sunday after Easter, when families gather at ancestral gravesites to once again bid farewell to the deceased. Jabordny’s Christian symbolism represents Christ’s victory over death, while its pagan dimension signifies the linkage between spring and perennial rebirth in nature.

Summary

Pirtuni continues to endure the throes of accelerating cultural change and extreme economic stress that have lasted for two decades. Its society is pivoting away from a centralized, state-run economy, and toward one driven by the volatile dynamics of an open-market system. This seismic changeover was triggered by Donovia’s Four Traitors incident, and Pirtunians still suffer from its aftershocks. The great transition from centralized control to free-market capitalism soon bounded the economic sphere to wreak major changes in all dimensions of Pirtunian life.

High inflation magnifies collective suffering and negatively impacts national morale. While the Four Traitors incident was still unfolding, inflation peaked at 10,000% per year. At the time, shoppers carried millions of konopkas (the national currency) to the market just to buy a loaf of bread. The quality-of-life crisis provided the basis for a cynical popular cliché that attested to everyone’s status as a millionaire. In more recent years, even with the benevolent intervention of Western financial institutions, the inflation rate has ranged between 50% and 100% annually.

The way current drug prices affect patients is a serious matter. The leader of a patient advocacy group recently observed that drugs in Pirtuni cost as much as gold. Families go to the pharmacy and pay three times the former prices that prevailed prior to the Four Traitors incident, but salaries and pensions lag far behind incessant price increases. Stores in Pirtuni no longer attach price tags to big ticket items, which now far exceed the purchasing power of most shoppers. Meanwhile, utility rates soar as authorities impose ever-increasing austerity measures even as they revoke high subsidies that formerly helped citizens pay energy bills.

Most people blame Donovia for the prolonged stress, and popular resentment has reached the point that Pirtunian shoppers now check product bar codes in support of a grassroots boycott of Donovian made products. Citizens seem resigned to the prospect of austerity measures lasting indefinitely, while watching their quality of life slide further down the scale. People are cynical about pervasive corruption and their own government’s waning ability to provide basic services. A general distrust of individuals occupying official positions of responsibility continues to increase over time. Although one bedraggled Pirtunian recently remarked that he had seen too much change for one lifetime, the country’s relentless rate of revolutionary change shows no sign of slowing for the foreseeable future.