How about making your own company or career? Would that help? (It definitely helped me in a lot of ways.)
I’m curious what you mean by ‘how broke the system really is’. Which system are you referring to, how is it broken, how could it be fixed, and what kind of expectations did you have going in that?
Companies lie and don't even follow their own policies, screwing over the workers (you could also apply this to the "justice" system, and many others). A good start would be a union to enforce the policies consistently and right the imbalance of power.
I have an LLC for largely non-tech work. Tech work is terrible in my market, so I don't think I'd do well enough to support myself. Not to mention, the tech I spent time building expertise in for the company was obscure, so I do think even have any real expertise now.
I think it may be about expectations. It is a game and, no matter what people or company say, they are NOT your family. Face your job with that in mind, avoiding the cynical views/attitudes. You go there to make money and if you learn and improve yourself, don't do it for the company to congratulate you, but in order to have more options and/or because you want to learn that new thing.
Companies are there to make money, and policies are set not as laws in stone, but to have some control over the work environment. That means the company would use those policies as needed. You are replaceable in general, and that's a fact. The same way companies should be replaceable for you. In this case, in tech, we are lucky enough to have plenty of opportunities to get new jobs, so use it. Not to find the perfect fantasy company, but to get the money you need to live a life you want.
I didn’t get a picture of what the policies and imbalance of power is, or what it should be. I’ve seen some companies lie in varying amounts that don’t always add up to broken. What’s actually broken from your perspective? Does broken mean they’re not paying you? Or does it mean you aren’t getting promoted? Does it mean the software they produce doesn’t work, or the company doesn’t make any money?
For example, my company says they don't compare people except for the highest rating. So you have to meet the "standards" (which are poorly defined btw). I know departments in the company where if you gave someone the highest rating, then you have to "pick" someone for a low rating even if they don't deserve it. There are many other examples of them breaking their own official policies with backroom policies that screw people over.
A tech LLC won't help. The area is terrible for tech work and my expertise was in stuff that's irrelevant.
I’m curious what you mean by ‘how broke the system really is’. Which system are you referring to, how is it broken, how could it be fixed, and what kind of expectations did you have going in that?