Re: "brain-damaged abstractions" - you reminded me of a coworker who could be called a "designeer" (he's a good programmer but he also does decent UI/UX).

The problem is, he ignores deadlines because he hates the brain dead abstractions and bad code, and decides to unilaterally refactor.

I feel sorry for him because I understand that he can't stand the sloppy code, he is working with nimrods and mediocre people (and awful tools), what he should do is quit. (some of the mediocre code is, I admit, mine, I've stopped caring and I just want to build a nest egg to quit)