Aaaand there it is.

"I have a friend who...."

Just stop.

I know you think anyone not doing well is not trying, you've been fed a lie on that score but at this point you're too far gone. You are clearly the type of person who sees a man with no legs and thinks "he could walk if he really wanted to" but the fact is, you have been shielded from the real world for so long that you have as much clue about what's actually happening as a North Korean farmer does about British football.

I've had gigs at small businesses, but it's one website, or four computers max, it's like a month's work at best and then nothing for ages. Could you live like that? If so, please specify how (and keep in mind that savings, family money, inheritances or a leg up you got years ago from some mate, do not count)

The very fact that I am now I.T. proficient is because I spent years learning this shit, but it hasn't gotten me anywhere because I don't have a degree in it and in this day and age, even small businesses want degrees. If I, as your kind puts it, "wasn't trying", I wouldn't know dick about computers or the internet at all.

Really honestly think about things before you say them.