Are there any GOOD software companies out there?

My nearly twenty years in the software industry is a complete clusterfunk, and I don't know what I did to cause it, except for having a brain, caring about my work, and maintaining personal integrity. At least that's my side of the story. Maybe one of you can figure out what I did wrong, or where I'm full of it.

It's the same pattern at every company I've worked -- the vast majority of my peers, who apparently have their college degree, are so horribly underqualified to do their job, that words fail me. Almost without exception, they are stupid, ignorant, lazy, and dishonest. They seem perfectly content to fake their way through their job and stick me with all the hard work. The number of co-workers I've had in my life that I could trust to do real work, I can count on one hand, and have fingers left over.

The only wildcard is my boss -- if he/she is actually competent, then I tend to keep my job, even though my job is sheer hell. If he/she is hopelessly average, I tend to get fired for "having a bad attitude", then I have to explain myself over and over at job interviews. More often than not, the interviewer gets a faraway look in his/her eyes, as if admitting that I would just have the same problem there.

I'm pretty sure I've done nothing other than work hard, strive to improve, care about my work, and not take shortcuts. Granted, my people skills aren't exactly politician grade, but what can I do -- a few years ago I finally heard about something called Asperger's Syndrome, and damned if I didn't match up with every single last symptom. (Actually, it mentioned clumsiness, which doesn't fit me -- my reflexes are quick and accurate. But if by clumsiness they mean awkwardness, never mind, that fits.) But given that many computer programmers have Asperger's Syndrome, it really seems like that can't be the source of my problems with work.

From my point of view, it seems like I can't find a decent company to work for. Every one is just a museum for lazy morons. I've worked in six different parts of the software industry -- word processing, OEM, business simulation, income tax, defense contracting, and video games -- and it's the same story everywhere. (The incompetent defense-industry programmers really floor me -- don't soldiers have to depend on this crap?) It seems like there would have to be a decent place to work somewhere -- please? Maybe? I've completely failed at finding one.

Is it because I never bothered to get a master's or PhD? (It took me five years and a quarter just to get my bachelor's. No, I'm not a slacker -- ask anyone that went to U.C. San Diego, they'll tell you this is typical. The course load is just too heavy for us engineering students.) I didn't get an advanced degree because I was quite sick of college and desperate to start my adult life. Besides, it's not like college really taught me much -- I tended to be years ahead of my peers, based on my own self-driven education. Maybe the jobs I'm talking about are reserved for PhDs?

I don't know. Am I just full of it? Feel free to ask for clarifications or whatever...I'll do my best to explain where I'm coming from. But as it stands, I feel like I'm living in Bizarro world, where good is bad and bad is good, and someone that actually knows how to do his job and achieve results in the real world is some sort of freak, good only for ridicule and stabbing in the back.

Oh, and one last thing...I am not looking for wishful thinking or well-meaning lies. How I feel about all of this is completely irrelevant. I don't need to be soothed. I'll feel good about this as soon as there is a logical reason to feel good about it, and not a second sooner, and anything less than that, as far as I'm concerned, qualifies as self-delusion, so don't even suggest it. I want answers, not pablum.