There is a ground wire on every pole I see around here with a transformer and the grounded/grounding conductor goes from pole to pole, getting regrounded each time along the way.
There are two ramifications to this.
One is the earth has become a current path and
Two, for this discussion, the neutral conductor is already grounded when it comes to your house.
We reground it there because we want to create a local ground reference at the house. That is also why even the old version of 250-24 or 250.32 (depending on how far back you go) required the ground electrode at any subsequent building.
So far, everything would remain consistent if we stayed with the 3 wire feeder wouldn't it?
Each building would have it's own "service" and be treated the same.
We even have it in the code that each building shall only have one source of power with few exceptions, disconnects etc (225 and 230 look virtually identical in this) so ground shift and voltage drop issues on the grounded conductor are mitigated by the GES and the bonding jumper.
If I have a well house, out in the yard, with a little panel serving the pump, a light and maybe a heater, where is the hazard?
<now I turn my hat around>
The problem came up when we started stringing communication cables between these buildings and creating alternate paths. In most cases it is just a hazard to equipment but it can create a personal hazard.
The first language, about 20 years ago, to deal with this was the "no continuous metallic paths..." limitation on the use of a 3 wire feeder.
Unfortunately a path that did not exist at the CO may show up a week later.
In that regard, the new rule makes sense.
