In a piece on the “time tax” experienced by people dealing with government services, Annie Lowrey observes that poorly run bureaucracy deepens gulfs between the rich and poor, white and Black, sick and healthy. She calls it “a regressive filter undercutting every progressive policy we have.” Lowrey suggests the elimination of hurdles like asset tests and interviews, as well as the use of better tools—for example, well-designed forms easily readable in one’s own language. But she also notes that the history of the time tax has deep, persistent roots in racism, skepticism of bureaucracy, and an
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