I ain't a fucking boomer either go on a couple vacations to see my grandchild I've been on my own at this point for 7 years

Pick an age, Boomer.

because no one in these towns are doing it

And this is the problem with the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps and learn to code, dangit!" advice. It stops working if people follow it, because the more people are offering a service, the lower the price it can command in a labor market.

How do I know? Well, in addition to being a software engineer for over 2 decades, I also studied econ in college.

I've failed so many business over the years because I've tried so many

And who exactly paid your bills while you were busy failing?