I agree with what you are saying. Someone who spent years trying to build a real startup and working hard at it would likely make a fine employee if they fail

I agree with what you are saying. Someone who spent years trying to build a real startup and working hard at it would likely make a fine employee if they failed (and have no need to work if they didn't want to if they succeeded in a big way). But that is not what this article is about. Most the entrepreneurs they are talking about are not startup founders in the sense you mean. They are not trying to build the next big thing. They are instead working as individual contractors at poor pay (compared to what they had before at least) soley because they cannot get full time work. While I do not necessarily think this should be held against them, especially not with the way the global economy has been lately, this is still a very different situation than being a startup founder trying to build something brand new.