Size and positional might does not guarantee a win. But you can be too big to fail and thereby be “allowed” to do just about whatever you want.

12 persons changed the world in 9/11. With a minimal of basic tools. 12 persons out-thought and out-manoeuvred the intelligence, technological and military might of the most powerful country in the world.

Too big to fail is a weird (and unhealthy) side effect of the systems we have set up to run most of our industrialised societies. Banks are too big to fail. So they can afford to be blasé about risks – because our governments will always bail them out.

The problem is, when they do fail (when not even the government can bail them out), they will fail spectacularly. Look at Iceland. And like 9/11, it probably only takes a few handful of bad apples situated at critical weak-spots to trigger a huge fail. Look at Lehman Brothers.

Is the system set up to fail only BIG TIME? And to be triggered by a small number of individuals? If so, what are we collectively doing about it?