>It has in many cases purposefully made the system difficult, shifting the burden of public administration onto individuals and discouraging millions of America

>It has in many cases purposefully made the system difficult, shifting the burden of public administration onto individuals and discouraging millions of Americans from seeking aid. This is pretty much it, the design of these programs are this way on purpose to discourage people from taking advantage of these benefits. >The United States government—whether controlled by Democrats, with their love of too-complicated-by-half, means-tested policy solutions; or Republicans, with their love of paperwork-as-punishment; or both, with their collective neglect of the implementation and maintenance of government programs Democrats love means-testing so they don't fall victim to attacks from Republicans about "welfare queens" and government waste. Republicans don't believe the government should provide aid to begin with, so their motivations are more clear. There's no real cohort in the US government who believe that benefits should be simple and universal, because they get dismissed as crazed socialists/communists. I see the future of the USA as dominated by the current gridlock until climate change and climate refugees cause the whole political system to break down. Predictions past that point are useless, kind of like a depressing version of the AI singularity.