My guess at the problem: we all feel a sense of relief when the codebase gets smaller, but making an existing, working codebase smaller is really, really hard work. Deleting it and starting over front loads all the reward
"Deleting it and starting over front loads all the reward"
Except that you then have nothing that actually runs. So yes, no more bad code, no mess. But also no good code, except the theoretical possibility for shiny new good code.
Refactoring is usually the way to go. Can be painful as well, when you are in the middle of it and not sure if it works out (I am in the middle of it, while also switching to a different graphic engine, but I finally see the light) - but mostly you still have something that actually works. And then you can incrementially improve on it. Seperate things that should be seperated - remove things nobody uses anymore (tricky and hard to be sure). And rewrite parts, that need a clean rewrite.
With my limited energy now (or my more realistic conception of my limited energy) - that process is way more rewarding for me, than giving in to the illusion that if I just could do it from scratch, it will be all beautiful.
