The Community of Cautionary Tale is a mid-sized, pleasant nation, remarkable for its burgeoning chameleon heart population. The hard-working population of 83 million Cautionary Taleans have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 29.0%.

The Cautionary Talean economy, worth 3.22 trillion stories a year, is quite specialized and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Trout Farming, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 38,853 stories, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.3 times as much as the poorest.

A well-funded social safety net protects the unfortunate, the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, "Darwin's Disease" is a growing cause of death, and a nation-wide cull of chameleon hearts is in effect. Crime is relatively low, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Cautionary Tale's national animal is the chameleon heart, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

Cautionary Tale is ranked 156,570^th in the world and 2^nd in Cat Army for Highest Food Quality, scoring 16.22 on the Meeshlin-Starr Index.