I don't necessarily buy the notion that all companies treat their employees poorly. Start a company if you want to (I have before, and it was very freeing) but the world might not be quite as binary as you're seeing it right now.

Not everyone wants to deal with running a company. If I started my own company, I'd have to be involved in hiring/firing people, worrying about whether I had enough cash flow to make payroll, and all sorts of other things I'd rather not be doing. That would probably burn me out faster than being employed as a developer. (In a previous job, I almost burned out from the stress of being a manager, and then went back to being a developer, so I know first hand some of the burdens of management.) Besides, my employer treats me pretty well.

I'm the opposite. The stress of finding contracts or not getting an income until I do, managing the sales, business, and financial side of things almost more than what I liked about being self-employed.

Some things suck, but I don't care what happens at work unless I'm clocked in and I have weekends now.

I went the contracting route, which gives me the freedom of working remotely, setting my own hours, and unlimited vacation. These were the three things I felt were lacking in every other company I worked for. Some people worry about the uncertainty of paychecks every two weeks, but I am under contract with a company that finds all the clients and guarantees 40 hours a week of billable hours.