Rip: a Lazy Bum's Idol

"Rip Van Winkle" is the truly inspirational story of how a man was able to sleep for twenty years and do nothing.  Rip uses his ingenuity to outsmart hardworking people.  Rather than working on his own farm, he does other people's small errands so that he'll be liked by everyone, except his wife.
Rip Van Winkle was able to gain his independence by doing nothing.  The Revolution didn't happen for Rip, and it wasn't a part of his life.  This part struck me most.  I'm sure there were people who were active in the Revolution and fought, but there were also probably people who waited around to see what happened.  Rip was in his own egocentric world, and he never quite got out of it.  His character remained static throughout the story. The twenty years that could have changed Rip went missing.  I think if people didn't have major changes then their lives would become routine and stale much like Rip's life.  The phrase, "life just passes you by"  comes to mind.  The world moved on without Rip Van Winkle, and it's sad in reality.  He missed out on all the important parts of his children's lives.  His wife died, but Rip never liked her much anyways.
After his nap in the mountains, Rip Van Winkle wakes up to find things a little different.  This story seems to be one big metaphor for life. I think many people can relate to him here.  Many changes seem like they happened in a instant or over night.  The reality is different from what the mind sometimes projects.  Rip's overall philosophy of life is similar to a great deal of other people's philosophy.  I think Rip Van Winkle is a universal character, a classic archetype.   
When I was younger, I thought this was a sad story about a man who had lost twenty years of his life.  I empathized with old Rip.  Now I see that he doesn't do much, and that he prefers his new life, without his wife.  Rip just likes telling stories and drinking without being bothered.
We never actually learn much about Rip.  He doesn't speak often, so his character is just a stand-in for something else.  We learn about some of his actions, but these are all external.  In most folklore of this type, there's a moral or a lesson to be learned, so deep character development gets overlooked.  Rip Van Winkle has no agency of his own, and that's how it was meant to be.
"Rip Van Winkle" the fantastically true story of how a man go drunk and passed out.  He is to many an idol, a wise sage for generations to follow.