There was once a city with a river bordering it on the west. The city had four areas. One bridge connected the areas. Travelling the bridge required a toll tax. The toll tax was used to provide housing and security in Area 4.

The furthermost east area was Area 1. It was also known as the Uptown Area. The rich lived there, and no one else could purchase or rent property in Area 1 unless they were a family member of the current residents. The toll tax to exit Area 1 was $1.00. Area 1 contained all the upscale restaurants and stores. The best hospital was also located in Area 1.

Going west, Area 2 was for white-collar workers. These were mainly individuals who owned small businesses. When they wanted to exit Area 2 in either direction, they paid a toll tax of $5.00.

Area 3 was for blue-collar and retail workers. They mostly worked for the businesses owned by people who lived in Area 1. A small, but increasing number of its residents worked for the restaurants and retail stores of nationally owned companies, but managed by those living in Area 2.

When the residents in Area 3 wanted to exit that area, they paid a toll tax of $10.00 dollars. This required those residents to spend a significant amount of their wages to pay tolls in order to travel the bridge to and from work. The powers-that-be and educators in the City taught the residents of Area 3 that they were those most likely to need services provided in Area 4, and therefore, their toll tax to get to and from work in Areas 2 and 1 was an investment in their future.

Area 3 was also known as the Downtown Area because a small portion to the East of Area 3 was set-off for the city's government buildings that included the jail, the police station, the courthouse, the federal building and City Hall. It also contained a large quantity of law offices. The powers-that-be of the city led the citizens of Area 3 to believe that they were doing them a favor by having government and legal services located in their Area, as it prevented them from having to pay the toll tax if those services were located in other Areas.

The fourth area, Area 4, was for the ill, disabled, and unemployed. The toll tax to exit that area was $150.00. When citizens from any of the other three Areas became unemployed or unable to work for more than six months, they were moved to Area 4.

Strangely, once citizens were moved into Area 4, they were never seen or heard from again. When this concern was mentioned to the powers-that-be, they responded that the city was more than capable of providing employment and health care to prevent citizens from being moved into Area 4. The powers-that-be argued that anyone ending up in Area 4 deserved to be there.

At times, some of the unemployed did not want to move into Area 4. They took their chances on the streets in Area 3. Eventually, this caused some citizens to complain that when in Area 3, they were approached by panhandlers. The city persuaded the people that the panhandlers were escapees from Area 4 due to their drug or drinking problems, because free food and free housing was provided in Area 4. The city then passed an ordinance to arrest panhandlers.

Area 4 soon became known as the Area of No Return. However, the mayor justified Area 4 by saying tough-love required Area 4 residents to stay in their place in order to give the rest of the city a positive attitude and appearance.

The mayor of that City often stated in speeches that the City showed compassion by providing all the houses in Area 4 with a river-scenic view.

Security personnel in Area 4 were held to a strict code of confidentially. However, after a week-end drinking spree in Area 3, several security guards disclosed that once people in Area 4 moved into a house, the front door was electronically locked and sealed from the outside. If Area 4 residents wanted to leave their house, they had to do so by the backdoor. All of the backdoors dropped off into the river.

Eventually, all of the residents of the city were old and rich or young and struggling. Those in poverty, the sick and disabled, deprived of opportunity to recover, died in isolation in Area 4, or took their chances surviving the tough-love waters of the river.

As the old and rich died off, the doctors and educators left that City. This left beneficiaries of the old and rich with inherited businesses but no education to succeed. When they became sick, they had to travel far away to see a doctor. Soon, their money was gone, spent on transportation to and from far away and for medical services that their insurance did not pay because all of the doctors were out of the insurance network. The businesses closed, and the young residents of Areas 1 and 2 were moved to Area 4.