Originally Posted by
SecretWarrior
Honestly, he probably panhandled, ate trash, and lived on the streets. He might've also justified robbing criminals with some rationale like civil forfeiture of criminal assets.
People worship Rorschach not realizing that Moore used him as a central figure in the book because he was too far gone mentally to solve the mystery on his own. He thought breaking the fingers of random crooks would solve some conspiracy to kill capes, but none of his moves make logical sense, besides warning the others. Nite-Owl is the one who puts the pieces together, but Dan was too impotent mentally to take action in the beginning. Having Rorschach be unstable is how Moore was able to get the story to last 12 issues, allowing him time to develop his world and his characters. I mean, all of Rorschach's internal monologue is just cool sounding nonsense, poking fun at Steve Ditko's Mr. A.
I don't think Rorschach really had the mental competence or even the desire to hold down a job. I mean, could you imagine him clocking in and out of somewhere every day? I think it's easier to imagine him living like a crazy homeless guy.