I left my last contracting project around six weeks ago because of encountering this attitude - yet again.

I wrote my first custom business program 40 years ago. Since then, I've only been on two teams that didn't exhibit this attitude.

At this point, I really don't want to continue programming for a living, precisely because so many people adamantly refuse to fix problems with painfully obvious (and quick and cheap) solutions.

I've given up on trying to get people to change their behavior. If I do continue programming, my approach will be to try to find one of those rare teams that actually changes and improves.