The Dehumanizing Force of Administrative Sludge

How small inconveniences and indignities build suggest we are insignificant

Photo by Viktor Talashuk on Unsplash

When I wrote You Are Not Your Own, I discussed a series of mundane bureaucratic actions that contribute to a feeling of exhaustion and indignity. One example was buying homeowners insurance over the phone from someone who had never seen my home and who would sell a policy to a company who had also never seen my home. …