At one time, there lived several hundred humanoids in a happy little community named Worthington. Their allegiance to one another was unquestionably as unwieldy as their bodies of iron.

During an earlier iron age, a craftsman had carved into stone "UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL," a most sacred, oft-repeated rule of thumb. Then the inhabitants had placed the impressive stone in front of their local district office, accompanied by the necessary pomp and circumstance. Their ancestors a long, long time before had learned from a terrible experience--though their historians could never recall exactly what the experience had been--that their standard of living, power, and strength depended upon their being totally loyal to one another.

From childhood they had been taught the importance of a united front. Never were they to speak ill of one another. Never were they to tolerate outsiders' derogatory (even when true) remarks or slander aimed at one of their own. Such remarks had to be reported to Values' Enforcement immediately.

Those caught speaking ill of a Worthingtonian paid dearly, if not with character assassination within their own communities or by being forbidden entrance into Worthington, then with something much worse. The Values' Enforcers were capable of great ingenuity, when it came to meted-out punishment for the harming one of their own kind., and more so if anyone were caught thinking for himself.  Derogatory remarks, whispering campaigns, and even outright lies, on the other hand, were permitted if they were aimed at non-Worthingtonians.

Too often, outsiders, fearing reprisal, saw no other alternative but to swear out arrest warrants at local police precincts for the arrest of angry, iron-fisted youth from Worthington for assault and battery on one of their residents, who had carelessly trespassed within Worthington's borders.  It mattered not to youthful Worthingtonians that their victims  had honest reasons for doing so, or had lost their way and wound up there by mistake.

Biased judges and juries within their borders always sided with and even defended the youthful aggressors ("Tut...tut,  boys will be boys, you know"). They, like everybody else in Worthington, believed  such preferential treatment was essential in order to maintain a united front. The poor victims though, alas, always felt the helplessness of victims everywhere and shed fountains of frustrating tears a while, but then accepted what they knew they could not change.

Eventually, growing weary of dealing with annoying, ignorant outsiders, Worthington Custom's Officials, considering themselves self-sufficient anyway, constructed fifty-foot stone walls, fifteen-feet thick, on the four sides of their exclusive community.  This pleased the neighboring communities greatly because they feared the possibility of one of their younger members eventually crossing into Worthington accidently. 

Years went by.  Peace and prosperity reigned.  Silently as fog approaches, community-wide apathy and indolence evolved in Worthington.  Its residents felt more and more secure within their "all for one, one for all" single-minded system of government. 

Too, their environment for a long time was conducive to good health and happiness.
It rained rarely.  In addition, its inhabitants had little fear of being harmed by rust, corrosion, and their effects, because of the excellent painting skills of local cosmeticians.  Even when oil used in the making of their precious paint--with which they had to be covered regularly--became scarce, they worried very little. Even when fewer and fewer of their members began choosing not to enter the field of cosmetology, as a result of indignities associated with the profession, they worried little. Truly they were the most complacent of all the communities in that area. 

Only after a heavy storm, when a rust-fungus epidemic of the broadest proportions broke out and most of them became tired and faded looking, did they bother to concern themselves with thoughts of having to seek help outside their borders.

However, because of the thickness of the stone walls surrounding them and the magnitude of the entrenched distrust of those beyond the stone walls, their desperate appeals for help were in vain.

So true is the old saying "We are our own worst enemies"! In this tragic instance, the Worthingtonians imprisoned themselves within the walls they themselves had constructed--causing their eventual annihilation.

"...If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." ~Matt. 15:14.