Is the world full of aspiring writers?

Everywhere I turn, someone is writing a book. Myself included, obviously, but I'm wondering just how many people in the world, or even just the US, think of themselves as budding authors?

I can't think of another profession (and yes, writing is a real profession) where people profess to have the talent/ability with nothing more than a desire. Art? To some extent. Acting? Well, there are plenty out there, but I don't know of many closet actors. Closet writers, now. There are millions of them. Anyone with a pen and paper can be a writer.

There's a rather random statistic that 80% of people in the US say they have a book within them that they want to put to paper some time during their life. There are about 300 million people living in America at the moment. So 80% of that is 240 million (feel free to correct my math if I'm wrong). I know that's not an entirely accurate number, but honestly, anything even close to that is mind-boggling.

If that many people truly want to write, would there be enough people to purchase all those books? And would most of them be worth buying or even reading?

Lately, every time I tell someone I've written a book and am searching for an agent, they tell me about the amazing story that they want to write. I'll tell you right now that the majority of those stories probably would not sell in the marketplace. Publishing is fickle, and while no one can really predict trends or what will succeed, there are some pretty big indicators that certain ideas wouldn't do well: lack of talent, lack of commitment, lack of a good plot.

So am I trying to dissuade anyone from writing? Certainly not. If you have a passion for it, then do what you must to accomplish your goals. I just think some caution is needed. If all signs are pointing out that you won't make it as a professional writer, maybe it's time to listen.

If this posts disturbs you on some primal level, ignore it. Keep writing. Who am I to stop you? I'm just tired and rambling.