You don't have to work for the government to feel the knock on effects of a government shutdown if goverment contracts to private companies are not paid in a timely manner. We'll probably see a spike in the unemployment numbers. Hopefully, just a temporary situation.

Of course, it's also true that nobody has to "work for" the government, i.e. choosing a lifestyle gets you off the grid, so to speak. Sadly, either you're really, really rich or "poor" to live this way.

From the reports I've seen, the number of self-employed people are at historically low levels, so this traditional way of making it on your own has become more difficult for various reasons.