It's not happening in the US only either...large parts of the EU have to deal with this bureaucracy, and the EU itself is probably the biggest bureaucracy of them all.
You're mentioning you're upper middle class...middle class doesn't exist anymore, you're a peasant like the rest of us.
You're right on the other hand about living in rural areas. I moved with my wife and kids from a big city 7 years ago to a small village and never regretted that decision.