Yuck! This does not sound like a positive work environment! This seems to be very unusual. Also, if you can't make enough to live on, that's insanely unusual

Yuck! This does not sound like a positive work environment! This seems to be very unusual. Also, if you can't make enough to live on, that's insanely unusual in the West. You need to be able to fail and make mistakes. That's part of being a junior developer. You need to be able to provide intelligent opinions, even contradicting your boss. But you're right about being aware of the politics and what your boss wants. It's usually bad form to cause one's boss to lose face in front of clients/his peers/bosses.