Why is nobody maintaining relationships anymore?

I'm not saying no one is maintaining relationships. I'm just pointing out a trend I've noticed: people are increasingly focusing on themselves, no longer compromising to please others, and avoiding pointless social interactions. Especially among young people.

I saw a conversation today where parents told their child that after entering society, they should maintain relationships, be emotionally intelligent, visit relatives more often, and learn to read their boss's mood. Then the child asked if their parents could help them get into a PhD program; whether they could get them into a top-tier hospital; whether they knew any high-ranking officials or professors with daughters to introduce. The answer to all was no. So if you're so "savvy," shouldn't you have accumulated lots of connections by now? How come you can't get anything done?

Because the times have changed. What's changed isn't people's emotions, but rather that market-based specialization has become incredibly refined. In the past, having a good relationship with relatives, mentors, or bosses could potentially open doors—not because people were more sentimental back then, but because the market system for converting power into profit wasn't as developed. For example, an internal referral to a big tech company, a place at a key high school, a promotion opportunity—these were hard to convert into money outright or quantify into an exact amount, so they usually went to "whoever has the best relationship" or "whoever has the best potential transaction value." We call this exchange "guanxi" or "human favor," but it's really just an unavoidable choice when markets aren't sufficiently developed.

Now? Almost everything can be solved with money. Some Shandong folks might disagree, saying "power is supreme"—without connections, money won't help. But have you noticed? The less developed the market, the more people rely on this "guanxi" system? I'm not being regionally discriminatory—I'm just describing a phenomenon in inland areas, Shandong, the Northeast, etc. It's not that "they've preserved their traditional culture better." It's that they don't have efficient ways to monetize things, so they can only operate through personal favors.

In the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, which I know best, if you have money, you can get almost anything done. Take school enrollment: you don't need to beg favors. There's an entire supply chain in place. As long as you pay, any school will take your kid—even the best schools. It doesn't matter if you don't have local residency, don't own property in the school district, or have low test scores. You can get in. If you can't, it just means you "don't know where to look." The information is all out there. If you can't find it, that's on you. Even getting into the civil service can be arranged properly and legally. Do you believe me?

What does this tell us? It shows how division of labor is becoming more specialized—"building connections," so to speak, is gradually being outsourced to professionals. Many things can't be accomplished just because you have a good relationship with a key person, or you're childhood friends, or relatives. Why would they take on the regulatory risk for you? But it's different with professionals. They operate as a supply chain. They don't maintain a relationship with just one key person—they've established every legitimate pathway available. They maintain a network of relationships across every link in the supply chain. When everything comes back with proper documentation, nobody has to take risks, and the money is guaranteed. That's how things get done easily. Now you know why even having connections increasingly doesn't guarantee results? All the spots have been monopolized by professional institutions. Why would a connected person reliably turn away opportunities to relatives or friends' kids just to maybe get two cartons of cigarettes and two bottles of Moutai as thanks? Nobody's stupid about this.

So it's not that developed regions lack human warmth. It's that developed regions typically have clearer supply chains and specialization, allowing everything to operate more commercially with very concrete and immediate returns. Once these opportunities are captured by the supply chain, there's naturally less room left for "connections" and "personal favors."

So why aren't young people maintaining connections anymore, especially in developed regions? Essentially, it's because the division of labor is clearer now. What's the point of maintaining connections? Could you sporadically dedicate time and energy to building relationships and compete with professional institutions? So young people don't need to bother with connections at all. They just focus on making money. Once you have money, problems get solved. You don't need to know anyone, because money is the universal solution. But if you can't make money, then you're stuck giving your warmth to cold shoulders, only to hear "restrictions are tight now, nobody can make exceptions, sorry sorry," and your 20-year friendship gets shut out.

So what is "efficiency"? It's directing your energy to the "right" place. #加密行情震荡