[guard-of-terra]

The level of helplessness in those rants suggest they are.

In the real world you are THE responsive professional, and you tell people that the important thing is going to be wrong, politely but repeatedly, and they actually listen to you. And when you repeat it in simple words long enough, they eventually would understand. That's how it works. Or at least you land on better terms so you don't have to make a deal with your conscience.

How they know if it won't work if they didn't try? They just sigh and go on spending their time doing busywork, spending corporate money or failing projects.

[bmalee]

In the real world, some battles are not worth fighting. Telling people that your way is correct, over and over again, doesn't necessarily mean that they'll learn, and even if you're right it doesn't necessarily win you any friends (even among people who agree with you). Sometimes you have to pick your battles and work around the incompetence, laziness, and sheer malice of others, and then vent a little to your friends, or to the internet at large if you have none.

[warfangle]

In fact, it can bite you in the ass when it comes review time - people review you as an obstruction to getting things done. Note, this isn't always true; when it is, it's a good sign that you shouldn't be working for the company. But in some geographic areas, even IT/Dev positions are hard to come by.

I have a friend who runs into these kinds of problems all the time. Complains incessently about them, how he hates IT/networking and wants to get out of it. Every story he tells reminds me how grateful I am to work at an amazing company. His excuse for not finding an amazing company? He doesn't want to move away from where he lives.

What can you say to someone in that position?

[guard-of-terra]

"His excuse for not finding an amazing company?" I think the main reason for not finding an amazing company is the same as one which prevents him from standing up thus making his life (and, in fact, lives of everyone around) better.

I guess the same people who work at nice jobs where they make a difference would continue to make so elsewhere and this in fact is what let them where they're now.

[guard-of-terra]

Some aren't (some questions are purely subjective even if you have a strong opinion; other are annoying but not very important); but some are. If you agree to some idiotic measure it's in fact you who would be blamed for consequences (together with your colleagues who might have nothing to do with it at all): overspending, missing deadlines and underwhelming result.

[mangala]

The lady doth protests too much, methinks.