the bureaucracy here is particularly aggravating.

Hey that's interesting, I had the complete opposite experience. I generally found the bureaucracy in NL pleasant and efficient. Wait times are rarely very long, systems are integrated so you don't have to provide the same information two or three or fifty times, much is automated, and the automation actually works.

What place are you comparing it with? Have you ever spent 3 entire days, that is 3 times 8 hours, waiting at a DMV in the US to get a license and register a car? Have you ever needed emergency medical treatment and then had to get the insurance to pay for it in another country? Have you ever tried to start your own company in pretty much any place in Europe outside NL?

I'm not saying your experience wasn't particularly aggravating, I'm just surprised because my own experience has been so different.