We all should be more like Homer Simpson.

Now, I know Homer is a fat, bald cartoon character, but hear me out. It is the Homers of this world that do far, far more for world peace and prosperity than anybody else.

Look at Homer in his power plant. Does he do much? No, of course. Every day he eats his donut, and every day he proactively avoids triggering a nuclear meltdown.

Other people cause nuclear troubles. Homer doesn’t. It is his incessant devotion to inactivity that makes him the safest nuclear operator in Springfield, and possibly the whole Eastern Seaboard.

Besides this, Homer raised a family — a hard task to do for anyone, much less a fat, bald cartoon character — and keeps them well-fed and with a roof over their heads.

We should admire the Homers of the world, the benchwarmers, the people who proactively do nothing. They preserve peace and tranquility everywhere.

I should be praised as a do-nothing person. Every day I sit at my computer and move semicolons around, and every day the world does not have a nuclear meltdown.

Forget the fact that I don’t work in a power plant. Forget the fact that I’ve never been in a power plant, much less seen one.

I simply sit at my computer and don’t cause chaos. I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for this.

If more people did nothing, I can virtually guarantee the world would be a safer place.

Of course, some people have to do something. There are real-life nuclear operators out there who can’t just eat donuts all day. They have to flip some switches, or something.

But one can flip switches without being proactive in the least about it. Just doing the bare minimum required would probably still be a net benefit for humanity.

Consider any task and ask yourself, “How can I do this in the most low-effort way possible?” and I can tell you that brilliant inventions will spring into existence.

It must be remembered that the TV remote (a veritable miracle of engineering) was made by someone too lazy to get up and change the channel.

Let’s create more inventions as useful as the TV remote. Let’s all watch more TV and have fewer big ideas.

Let’s channel our inner Homers. The world might be a better place for it.

Of course, there have to be Barts and Lisas and Marges in our lives, people who cause chaos or trouble or just mix things up.

And there have to be Mr. Burnses who terrify us during the workday, and Moeses who soothe us with Duff beer (or Miller, or Guinness, or whatever your choice of poison is).

But we can push back against them with the power of inertia. When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, the force cannot win.

Neither can the object, theoretically speaking. But we don’t have to worry about that.

In fact, I think there would be fewer worries, and fewer cares, if we simply did nothing about them. Most of our troubles would clear up within a number of weeks.

So give it a try. Give yourself a day, or two, or three, to live like Homer Simpson.

Enjoy your life and your donuts. It’s a pretty good existence.

Copyright 2025 Alexandra Paskhaver, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Alexandra Paskhaver is a software engineer and writer. Both jobs require knowing where to stick semicolons, but she’s never quite; figured; it; out. For more information, check out her website at https://apaskhaver.github.io.