First is understand that ugly or hard to maintain code is not necessarily doing a bad job. The organization has a lot of different goals, and cheap maintenanc

First is understand that ugly or hard to maintain code is not necessarily doing a bad job. The organization has a lot of different goals, and cheap maintenance is only one of them. But from your post it sounds like your immediate problem is you don't like working on ugly code. Thrn I'd suggest trying to get transferred, rewriting jto from scratch (at most companies this would be a hard sell, and probably a money pit), or find a new job. Complaining about the code is only going to make your workplace more hostile. If you do decide to go for the rewrite option try to make the case from a financial aspect. Calculate the cost of maintenance, the cost of the rewrite etc...