In a design system. You specify variants of a component. Each one has its own combination of style defined by the design system.
You do not set „Gap“ to 2. you would specify smth like „small“, „medium“ or „large“ as props.
This is not a tailwind issue.
How would you handle a design change where a size becomes required that fits between "small" and "medium"? These things happen throughout the lifetime of a project.
Opaque numerical design tokens may not be the most explicit to understand, but they allow for expansion.
Are you unfamiliar with having-a-boss?
On the places where things work, bosses act like the GP's one. Granted, that doesn't happen on the large majority of places.