I was thinking on parallel construction, and remembering two scenes from the Snowden movie. Movies are like a way to remember things that are a little similar to reality if you can't pay attention to anything more serious. In one scene, Snowden is learning how the NSA spies on people "lawfully". His instructor is teaching a bunch of newbie spies about this, and the instructor says something that is blatantly false but sounds kind of true if you don't go too deep into it. He claims that this spying is legal and constitutional. In another scene, Snowden is doing advanced work among surveillance workers, and he is referred to as "snow white" in parallel to having concerns around spying on people without due process. It is the introduction to engaging in illegal spying as a matter of course. What's notable here, is that a bunch of people are breaking the law, and are aware of doing so, but talking to each other as if they are not breaking the law. Additionally, people who come out around not wanting to do this, are persecuted on an international level by multiple governments and other organizations. I imagine there being wealthy or powerful people pulling strings and cleaning up, and the workers who do their work basically just adapting to this situation in various ways, maybe knowing or not knowing what it is, I don't know, so as to succeed. I'm thinking of that part where the newbie spies are taught that the illegal work is legal. There's a possibility there that the instructor knows it isn't legal. Meanwhile, each spy finds out in his or her own way, and many don't find out, that it is not actually legal. The situation seems to parallel many others. And this kind of situation has played a big role on this list. It's hard for me to think about. I think most people kind of "pick up" that you talk about it as if it is legal. I feel like this must be analogous to something socially normal, for so many people to pick it up, but I'm not sure what. Why would it be normal for so many people to comply with unspoken, constantly-changing rules? --> Maybe because the rules _are_ spoken. The instructor gave them to the newbie spies when he revealed by action that the entire system they were in was a part of it. This implies something. The thing it implies is very vague, and it seems to stay vague as far as the movie is concerned. But even though it is very vague, it is very clear that it is very real and very powerful. So the social norm would be like hushing about the weight of an obese + popular person. Maybe. It's hard to think about. But it could save one's life to comprehend it. It's never good to keep genocide secret, but I guess you can get killed when you talk about it to the people who are trying to cover it up.