[dmitriid]

Not just that: I know CSS reasonably well, and I understand what most of Tailwind classes do on their own.

But for the life of me I could never come up with a consistent set of rules like margins, paddings, colors etc.

Tailwind is a mini design system on its own (even if it's "just a utility-first CSS framework"). I don't have to spend too much time thinking which margins to add or set the typography right. Set an `m-2` and a `text-sm`, and you're done :)

All/Most of that can definitely be replicated with, say, CSS vars, but then you're back to "okay, how do I consistently name these components".