Disagreeing with Bill Watterson in the Style of Calvin and Hobbes

Naive, perhaps. Idealistic, arguably. But without ideals, we tend to aim low. Anyway, this 'comic' comes off as mean-spirited, even if "truth-based" (whose truth?). It's like telling Bill Watterson that you can't have a job you love without also suffering for money (Bill: "But...but...I did it"), or Gandhi that you can't throw off a colonial oppressor without violence (Gandhi: "But...but...I -we-did it"). Think about what example they set and what they brought to the world; then think about what this 'comic' brings to the world. Whom do we thank?

Watterson expressed an attitude that was very prevalent among many of the college professors who taught me and my fellow students. Doing work for monetary gain is always bad, they would repeat and the students took it to heart. Never mind, as Mr Willis points out, that history is full of artists that produced work of great genius and made a good living while they did it. Of course our professors all had tenure with handsome salaries and benefits, so why on earth would they feel the need to sell anything?

The result, as I saw through the years, was dilettantism. If you couldn't land a job teaching, or even if you did, you wound up doing work you hated to pay the bills and painting (never to sell!) when you could find the time. Almost all of the people I knew who took this rout became discouraged and gave up after a few years. Pretty mean spirited advise, if you ask me.

I think everyone has the right to their opinions and thoughts, and I feel that if Waterson wants to give up cartooning for what ever reason, I say "Thank you for the joy that is/was Calvin and Hobbes, and good luck in all your future endeavors."
If he wants to stand up and talk about his decision and why, people can listen or not, take the suggestions or not as they wish; we all have a choice.
And while Gavin Aung Than has every right to his opinions/thoughts, why go back to 1990 to dredge this up? Yes I know that history is ripe with cartoon fodder, but it just seems like he is trying a bit too hard.

That is just my opinion... you can take it or leave it. :-)

Well, I rather see and read Bill Waterson's naive point of view than this bitter (sourly bitter) reply. And Waterson is not alone at what he said (hey, Neil Gaiman gave a similar speech in 2012 for art students).
But more important: Not Waterson nor Gaiman say money is evil, they express that there's a lot more important thing in life to it.
Can you argue with that?