Are people interpreting this as an insult or something? They're making the very real point that people who try and create art will often end up destitute should they fail in ways other professions would never have to face. The idea is that the devs shouldn't have had to sacrifice so much just for a chance at success.

"what exactly does social safety nets have to do with starting a indie game development company?"
How about "would encourage numerous times the current amount of people trying to make quality indie games because people could attempt it without having to sell everything they own"? Safety nets are good, yall. Even if you're not a bleeding heart hippie, having a form of insurance for people to try new things without going broke (which ends up costing way more social program money in the end because they can't get jobs) helps spur innovation. It's common sense, insurance always is, provided it's made with the right intention of "everyone pays a little so whoever gets fucked over doesn't have to pay a lot which can and will be you at some point".

I'm not entirely certain if it is insulting. I mean, it tells of their situation at the time. Say what you will about the payoff, if their gamble didn't work, they'd have jack shit. Should it really have to be that way?