Every programmer that has ever existed has said and felt this exact thing. It used to really bother me as well. Then I realized that the world is a messy place and I would need a stronger stomach if I was going to watch the sausage being made. Don't refactor because it violates your delicate sensibilities about code - that's a great way to waste a lot of money and get yourself fired.

Greenfield development or maintaining a legacy code base that isn't complete shit is a luxury. Leave things better than you found them but you have to earn respect/influence before you can start attempting sweeping changes.

PS - https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-ten-commandments-of-egoles...