"The Extinct Giant" Part 5: Those Who Deal in Trust Lose It the Most
Why the Giants of Finance and Infrastructure Are the Most Fragile
Finance and infrastructure are the foundations of society.
We deposit money.
We travel.
We make payments.
We keep our lives running.
Because these things function as a matter of course, we can go about our daily lives without thinking about them.
That is precisely why financial institutions and infrastructure companies have been considered the "most stable entities."
But what about reality?
Financial systems fluctuate frequently, and infrastructure companies have become targets of distrust and dissatisfaction.
Why have the giants that should be the foundation of society become so fragile?
The reason for this, too, lies not in failure, but in the structure of success.
The Era Built on Trust
Once upon a time, finance and infrastructure had a clear narrative.
Financial institutions were "entities that provide long-term support."
They grew alongside companies and regions, prioritizing continuity over short-term profit.
There was a relationship of trust that went beyond numbers.
The same is true for infrastructure companies.
Mechanisms like transportation, logistics, and payments had value simply because
"they never stopped."
Stability was prioritized over efficiency, and
they were deeply connected to people's lives.
Trust was something that was built up over time,
before it was ever quantified.
The Moment Scale and Efficiency Became the "Correct Answer"
The turning point comes when finance and infrastructure are placed in an "arena of competition."
International competition, deregulation, integration, and restructuring.
Scale was considered to be more stable the larger it was, and
efficiency was evaluated as being healthier the higher it was.
Financial institutions underwent repeated mergers,
infrastructure companies built massive systems,
and they took on structures where a single failure would affect the whole.
What is important here is
that all of these choices were "rational."
In the capitalism of that time,
scale and efficiency were justice.
Trust Is Replaced by "Conditions"
However, in the process of pursuing scale and efficiency,
finance and infrastructure quietly changed their nature.
Trust came to be managed by conditions rather than narratives.
Interest rates, fees, points, and return rates.
Relationships were optimized, measured by numbers, and made comparable.
At first glance, it is rational.
However, trust bound by conditions
collapses the moment those conditions change.
"Where is the most profitable?"
"Where is the fastest?"
"Where is the most convenient?"
In this way, trust becomes fluid, and
finance and infrastructure lose the reasons they are chosen.
The vulnerability born from massive scale
The giants of finance and infrastructure have become
too large and too complex.
Massive systems are efficient in peacetime.
But once a distortion occurs,
it takes enormous time and cost to correct.
Moreover,
"cannot be stopped"
and "failure is not permitted"
are characteristics that hinder flexible responses.
As a result,
small troubles lead directly to anxiety throughout society.
Entities that should be symbols of stability
turn into entities treated with the most nervousness.
Trust turned into points, relationships being worn out
Even more symbolic is
the phenomenon where trust is broken down into "rebates" and "benefits."
There are certainly temporary advantages.
But that is merely
borrowing trust in advance and consuming it.
Relationships dependent on conditions
cannot be maintained unless conditions continue to be offered.
As a result,
finance and infrastructure are drawn into an endless war of attrition.
The structure where the giant that handles trust
wears out trust the most.
That is the paradox occurring here.
Lessons shown by the giants of finance and infrastructure
As we have seen so far,
the reason the giants of finance and infrastructure became unstable
is not because they got the system wrong.
They
• expanded their scale
• increased efficiency
• managed trust through conditions
They executed all of that
as the correct answer of capitalism.
But as a result of pursuing that correct answer to the end,
trust was quantified,
relationships became fluid,
and flexibility was lost.
Even those who bear the foundation of society
could not escape this arena.
Next time preview
Next time,
we will deal with the giants that support a "society that is too convenient,"
such as convenience stores, home delivery, telecommunications, and streaming.
Why do models of "non-stop," "instant," and "flat-rate"
exhaust people and society?
Delving into the structure of institutional fatigue
that lurks behind convenience.