And yet, just like the guy looking for a new job and unable to find one, you have to find someone to pay you for the work. Except now you have to do it constant

And yet, just like the guy looking for a new job and unable to find one, you have to find someone to pay you for the work. Except now you have to do it constantly instead of once every few years. For most people, that's not an improvement. Even if all skills were suitable for freelancing (which they're not), not everyone is cut out to freelance. It's high risk, the income is uneven, you have to pay unemployment insurance but are ineligible to receive it, and you have to market yourself (which is difficult and eats up your time) and do collections (which also eats up a lot of time and is too often unsuccessful). You also take a hit on self-employment taxes. In the US you're also screwed on healthcare, which is a big deal if you have a family. It's very easy to end up working longer days as a freelancer and taking home significantly less pay than a full time employee would for the same type of work.