[zgramana]

I think the essay would have been better served getting to what appears to be the point much more directly:

- The VW scandal was so shocking because executives and engineers exploited a societal taboo against lying

- Was sustained for so long by exploiting another taboo against placing personal advantage over honesty

- Signs of fraud were dismissed because people assumed successful executives would never violate these taboos, leading them to accept misleading explanations and discounting the possibility of a cover-up.