It takes money to do those things. Money is often scarce when one is unemployed. I do agree with your sentiment, and unemployment can be a very different thing depending on whom and where you are. Just thought it bears mentioning that one can manage to make a rent payment and eat on an unemployment check, but in my experience the remainder was not sufficient for use as venture capital. Also, while this is attributable only to my shortcomings, I had a generally bad time during unemployment. It can be a source of great stress, and a Catch-22: I would place it as one of the times in my life I was least likely or able to exhibit the creativity and drive needed to change my situation. Ultimately I did, by being creative and applying myself, but I hardly pulled myself up by my bootstraps, and it took time.