![]() To think otherwise plays into their hands. A few billionaire donors drafted the fine print that disqualifies the neediest from touching the bounty. Some high-level political functionary stipulated that the form must be completed in triplicate. Vibrant, humorous, and fraught with entanglements, Rasheed Newson’s My Government Means to Kill Me is an exhilarating, fast-paced coming-of-age story that lends itself to a larger discussion about what it means for a young gay Black man in the mid-1980s to come to terms with his role in the midst of a political and social reckoning. Yet what the vast majority of citizens see as mistakes are the result of calculated design. They yell at the lowly staffer in front of them, then sulk away and comply with the absurd rules or give up. When most people encounter the seemingly arbitrary and capricious workings of, for instance, the IRS or the DMV, they accept it because they've been trained to assume that the government is run by half-wits. A decision has been made to repel the average citizen from gaining certain knowledge or opportunities. The forms are confusing, and the record keeping is ass-backward because it reflects a policy choice. ![]() ![]() ![]() “The theory goes that governmental agencies don't accidentally make accessing information or resources difficult. ![]()
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