Goblins could fit into human society, all it would take is a bit of well-timed
orcestration.
In
The Hobbit (the "Over Hill and Under Hill" chapter), Tolkien writes of Orcs:
Quote:
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It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands more than they could help; but in those days and those wild parts they had not advanced (as it is called) so far.
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The emphasis above is mine. Interesting Tolkien sees them as advancing technologically, which would indicate a period far beyond the War of the Rings it seems to me, particularly with Tolkien inferring that in some future era would rise the Orkish invention of weapons of mass destruction, engines and explosives.