Narratives are more than simple chronicles of events. They give shape to the forward movement of time, suggesting reasons why things happen, showing their consequences. Enrico had a narrative for his life, linear and cumulative, a narrative that made sense in a highly bureaucratic world. Rico lives in a world marked instead by short-term flexibility and flux. This world does not offer much, either economically or socially, in the way of narrative.
Corporations break up or join together, jobs appear and disappear, as events lacking connections.
Through most of human history, people have accepted that their lives will shift suddenly because of wars, famines, or other disasters. What's peculiar about uncertainty today is that it exists without any looming historical disaster. Instead, it is woven into the everyday practices of a vigorous capitalism. Instability is meant to be normal. Perhaps the corroding of character is an inevitable consequence.