I think it's being alienated from your own labor, like what Marx talked about in The German Ideology

That sounds about right to me. Marx was right about labor and alienation. It sucks that we are all so removed from ourselves and each other just to get some coin.

I just feel that my brother would have a better time if he could just do what he loves, but he feels now that he's "wasted his life" (we grew up under an abusive father) and now he feels that he must do something that he doesn't seem... all that interested in?

That’s rough man. I totally understand that sense of peril and doom. It’s really hard out here for people, and we have so little room to make mistakes, or just have time to figure shit out. We all feel like we gotta make a move and keep making moves to stay afloat. I feel for him.

I would encourage your brother to try and be kind to himself (which sounds corny I know 🌽) and give himself some grace. It’s hard out here, but I would also encourage katz like him to really value their happiness. I think we take it for granted in general, but his happiness is worth investing in, and doing something that doesn’t really fit for you can far more from you that that check can bring in.

I hope you can get through to him and help along in his journey. We are our brothers keepers (again a corny phrase and made worse by Obama stealing it, but it’s true)