Well I think many of us with these skills choose to try to start our own full-fledged business, because it's great for work experience and consulting is a fine

Well I think many of us with these skills choose to try to start our own full-fledged business, because it's great for work experience and consulting is a fine fall-back. Similarly, consulting at those rates can be a smart way to bootstrap a startup as long as a balance can be found between the two. And some consultants just work at that rate for a while and then take 6 months off. So there are a few ways to "could, but don't". I'm turning down work left and right. It does take self-motivation and research to talk to the right people until there's a steady source of leads. But that's typical for any consulting.