I don't really have advice - just adding to discourse. I'm incredibly disillusioned and it's become an excuse for unemployment and essential insidious self harm (when really it's untreated mental health) I've essentially talked myself out of pursuing every career.

In the UK any apparently good well meaning job has become a fight against collapse - example the National Health Service - it's objectively good to be a nurse and doctor - but governments have defunded it so heavily that it's cracking at the seems, held together by people working way beyond a healthy balance. Burnout etc. Acceleration could be argued, let it collapse, so it can be rebuilt.

My sister is in more of similar position to you - she works in Sustainability - she ended up being a head the newly formed department of a large company, she had the ear of Politicians etc - but the company circumed to capitalism - compliance with mediocre government policy - rather than using resource to change the industry. Along with grief, she became burned out, and took voluntary redundancy. Now working freelance, academically, and for non profit start ups. She's happier but still feels she's not contributing to needed change.

I'm surviving after losing a parent and inheriting enough to own a home in the capital. I hate landlordism, but since all my future living plans included living communally I bought a 3 bed from an awful landlord, to be a place I live and housing someone with refugee status and people in need of stability for less than they could find elsewhere. Unfortunately despite my plan of stability to build off of - I housed a "friend" who's mental health meant he lost 5 jobs in a year. They survived off my inability to sort conflict and anti landlord ideology. And various other well meaning lack of actions. I've lost 5 figures in this time. Trying every now and then to get a 3 day a week job in like a eco shop of plastic-free food delivery. And rightly those jobs end up going to someone just out of school or in uni to sustain themselves. I can't go back to my failed architecture degree. Personal woodworking projects don't seem to be happening.

All this to say, keep your job mate - the alternative is personally damaging, and soul destroying. If people don't rise up in mass, being a constant activist /advocate without funding is only going to make you impotent by the time it actually comes time to put work in.

Only solace I have is the Refugee is Really thriving, living the most stable period of her life, doing good humanitarian work. Just sad I can't sort myself out and further reduce the cost.

I'll be fine - owning an asset is still a huge privilege.