I have started Q businesses, where Q = ...

That's the opposite of what you should be thinking. NOW is the best time to start a business, to get all the early "business building" crap out of the way so when the economy does begin growing again, your business is in a good position to grow along with it.

If you wait until the roller coaster has started climbing, you'll be left on the platform and not in a seat.

I like to build things. I am good at building things. I have no desire and no particular talent for soliciting customers and investors or managing people, infrastructure and money. If I were to start my own business, guess what I would have to spend most of my time doing?

It'll be done as it always has been done in times of scarcity: Larger family units will stick together, pool resources, and perform services amongst each other, alleviating some of the need for external monetary exchange. Such scarcity situations do not fare well for lone wolves, and in the long view, the ability to "make it on your own" seems to be a luxury.

I read plenty of self-effacement:

"I made 6 figure and thought I deserve this because I worked hard and I'm worthy and anyone who isn't making six figure or more isn't working hard enough, is uneducated or is unworthy!"
"Then 2000/2001 hit. Business dried up. Companies were moving back to canned software again, India and whatnot made what I knew obsolete."
"So, I said - I'll get an MBA and move into management. Nope. Doesn't work that way."
"I started several web businesses - SATURATED BEYOND BELIEF - blogs, selling things, you name it!"
"Yep, With an MBA and ten years of development experience, I had to go to Goodwill for a $7.25 job just because I thought I could become a big shot by starting my own business and because I believed in the American myth."
"You think you're making all the "right" decisions and at the time, you are. I thought C++ middleware was the way to go - and then Java took off. "

This *is* a chronicle of his personal failure-- hubris brought low by a series of poor choices and bad luck. He started out believing that hard work was all that mattered, and discovered that making the right calls and catching the right breaks was equally important, if not more so. Having learned that lesson, he's now unable to act on it. The story is a warning that if you don't plan for personal failure (either at an individual or societal level), it could hit you a lot harder than you expect. Nobody's perfect.

Dismissing anyone who isn't successful is a dangerous habit. So is cheering at the suffering of a real human being just to score political points.