Word: uselessness
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...that society must value him, must impute virtue for no reason other than that he fails in a sincerely believed-in, preferably noble cause. When was the last time one saw that? Before the 1980s, there was a public shame attached to too much success. That attitude was useless and irrational but also sweet-natured and not unhealthy. The underlying idea was that failure was something potentially good for you and for everyone, that rejection and loss were not only personally inuring but that losing was also a sign of high and admirable ambitions. To note how far the pendulum...
...Nyatta and Thairu seem to view traditional American reactions to misbehavior as wimpy and useless. "You're told you have 10 hours of detention, so what? You're in a room reading a book," Thairu said, apparently forgetting the lessons of The Breakfast Club. By contrast, they feel corporal punishment keeps order while instilling morals. "Practically, it's very useful," Nyatta said. "It shows you the difference between right and wrong," Thairu adds...
...high points are the running and operating of defunct devices, like the rotating file cabinets and human elevator analogue, complete with passenger. There is a poetry in useless machines, like taking pictures with no film, running the toaster with no bread or switching on the empty Cuisinart--a poetry that has its own meter and history...
...this age of leisure it is possible to make a living by engaging in the most useless activities imaginable. Things that in the past, no one would have even considered paying someone else to do. In our brave new world, supply will meet demand every time...for a price. A man who made it his business to squeeze the bejeezus out of every living creature he encountered might have been ostracized in a less modern society. Today he has a show on the Discovery Channel. Jerry Springer has made a fortune exploiting and exhibiting the perversity of others. And professional...
...Thai entrepreneurs who owned the prime Ko Pha-Ngan waterfront were, at one point, the black sheep of their respective clans. Beaches were useless: the prime coconut-farming plots were inland. But with the arrival of the sand-loving farangs, a whole new economy emerged. Families like the Thuaycharoens, known locally as the Khaos, grew wealthy building bungalow complexes and beach bars. Mustachioed Mr. Khao is now governor of the whole province. Bespectacled Mrs. Khao manages their real estate empire from behind the counter of her two-aisle grocery store. The kids who buy rolling papers and beer from...