Condemed or Priveledged

I'm listening to an audiobook, The Host, by Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series...never read nor seen the movie, as I work on some weekend painting, fix-it, handyman stuff.  My younger brother, Steve suffers a similar fate.  His house about a year before being renovated (by his hands alone).  Last weekend I helped him cut some stock and mud a bathroom.  I'm pretty good at that stuff since I know every inch of the 1,000 sq ft house (floors, walls, and ceilings).  All of the work I do is craftsman quality and I take pride in that.  However, I am perplexed by the mere fact that I am in this perpetual fixer upper to do list.  Is it something in my genetics?  Why do my brothers for the most part suffer the same fate.  It is hard as hell and not as rewarding as one might guess, but every bit as pain filled and more.  Life is a struggle and I wonder why.  College educated and middle class, we teeter on the edge of financial ruin.  Woe is the life that our parents' generation bequeathed to us.  I hope that we have the strength and common sense to turn around the cycle of short sightedness for empathy and compassion...save those, I'd just like to see some practicality brought back into the world.