Agreed, on all points. I keep getting stuck in the same trap: I have two spare points of power, and two spare points of processing. Generating power (with my current systems and upgrades) needs two points of processing, so if I do that, it's game over due to 0 processing. Likewise, processing (again, with my current systems and upgrades) requires 2 points of power, which results in game over from 0 power. I also need to resist the urge to enable the autos -- they end up doing one or the other, and it is game over.
Ideally, there should be a small delay before game over: I should be able to generate power from processing, and quickly use some of that power to increase processing back above 0. It does not make sense that the ship gets destroyed immediately because there is no material immediately on hand to generate more power when the power consumption of all systems is currently near "100%".
I would do the math to find what I am guessing is the only possible path to success (do A, then B, then C, ....), but without knowing how "A" affects resource use, I am left with only making a random guess, and hoping it is not game over. The game becomes less a game of skill, and more a game of chance: Roll the dice and if it's "snake eyes", you lose.