When I started contracting, all the advice I saw was like "you need to have three months of income in savings and maintain this reserve or you will go bankrupt". I never had that much money in savings and to this day still don't but I still think it's good advice. I had of course other advantages that allowed me to overcome the hardships.

But more directly, I think "if you think employees are disposable, why are you still an employee" is a very naive - if obvious - question. Even as a contractor I'm functionally treated like an employee by many companies and if anything I'm more disposable this way than I would be with a salaried position and career. The question is "what else" and if there is a dichotomy, the answer is "be the employer" but that is simply not an option for most and if you find yourself being an employee you likely aren't in the position to become an employer because you don't have the funds to start a business without a significant existential risk.

The truth is not just that most business founders fail. The truth is also that most founders of the largest businesses that exist today either started when there was no competition nor regulation or they were already filthy (generationally) rich to begin with - or both. So what else is there? Not participate in the economy? You might as well insist people refuse to breathe.