> So you can't really sit the whole day under a tree play lego with your kid.
I don't know where you are getting the idea that the cartoonist(the artist) or Bill Watterson(the cartoonist has used a quote from Bill Watterson's speech) advocates doing nothing.
If you go by just the cartoon, the first panel shows him working. He doesn't find drawing the jeep for the advertisement fulfilling, and he isn't interested in having beers with his co-workers. Overall, his job isn't for him so he quits. Later, his old company comes with an offer which he considers but rejects because that will mean not being with his kid and going back to drawing jeeps for advertisements.
Do you know Bill Watterson's story? These aren't empty words. He pretty much followed this to the letter and spirit. He started at some news agency drawing cartoons(or was it ads). He didn't find it fulfilling and quit. He started Calvin & Hobbes. He could have become a millionaire had he merchandised it, but he fought against merchandising because he believed it will dilute the art. Now whether he did the right thing or not doesn't matter. Calvin & Hobbes is his; he can do whatever he wishes with it. On a slightly related topic, all this "Calvin pissing on cross" and "Calving kneeling against the cross" make me angrier than it should. For fuck's sake, I don't give a shit whether you are a militant atheist or a religious nutjob. Come up with your own ideas rather than stealing from someone who clearly doesn't wish his creation to be merchandised.
As the cartoon states, the whole point is creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul. If your 9 to 5 does that, superb. If not, everyone owes it to himself to pursue something that does.