Useless

"You are useless!" is the typical curse for ostracising an individual from company, school, or even family in the modern society.  It is wondering when they started using such a word useless.  It seems to have been used since the age of modernity where individuals started ostensibly categorising and classifying individual human-beings and target objectives and establishing a solid social order with rigorous ideologies and principles.  

Of course, these characteristics of the modern society are necessary to bring an order and a clear objective for individuals to live in such a chaotic universe.  Nonetheless, these characteristics have become intensive enough to expand the social class division and various conflicts.  This intensity has imbalanced the Yin-Yang by introducing the intense brightness (Yang) characteristics, which also simultaneously created the strong shadow (Yin) haunting behind this intensive Yang from the 18th century to nowadays. 

The modern society dominated by Yang norms and value puts emphasis on the conformity fulfilling their intensive objective.  This conformity classifies individuals into usefulness owing to their objective standard.  Then, individuals not conforming with the standard are labelled and ostracised as useless.  

The modern society, especially after the industrial revolution, has achieved many materialistic goodnesses which are characterised as Yang while leaving the environmental and spiritual goodness behind.  It is not to defy its characteristics of Yang, which are necessary for humans, their cultural development, and knowing and their world.  The key is the balance which seems to have been imbalanced in particular in 19th and 20th century when various catastrophic wars took place.  

The rapid industrialisation of the modern society, characterised as Yang, have been too strong to follow the natural flow.  It is as though swimming against the steam.  This intensity has caused both the environmental damage and the social divisions.  They are progressing while destroying at the same time.  

 

The story of "The last standing tree" in Taoism by Laozi / Lao Tze is very inspiring.  This last standing tree is worshipped for its longevity as a holy site. This tree could survive long because lumberjacks saw its form is too distorted so it was too useless to cut off for using as a resource. 

This story tells us that there is a virtue found in uselessness.  When someone accuses the other as useless, it is simply the matter of where this individual belongs to.  There ought to be right timing and place any individual can be settled in so that each individual has their own merit of existence. 

The modern world puts so much priority of the Yang side that it forsakes the Yin side. Even the Stoic of the Western philosophy insists on helpful/useful for the community. By contrast, this Eastern philosophy is really original and revolutionary enough to encourage every individual living in this world!

The Taoist teaching of life is encouraging for all individuals living in this world. Individuals allow the natural flow of their daily life without either excess aspiration or anxiety. Then, they may eventually find out their way of life satisfying them in a relaxed atmosphere.  

Of course, individuals have to challenge and strive for what they want to obtain or fulfil with their active spirit, Yang.  At the same time, their passive spirit, Yin, is also important to avoid unnecessary conflict, exhaustion for pursing more than necessary, and labelling someone or someone by losing their flexibility.

  

In the Western world, there is an equally inspiring philosopher, Michel Foucault, pointing out of the intense conformity required by the modern society.  Foucault accused of enforced conformity under rigorous social order in the modern society where individuals are classified as though they were the industrial products.  

Foucault mentioned the medieval feudalist society as the counterpart of the modern society in his book "History of Madness".  In the medieval feudalist society, madness is treated as an acceptable characteristics of individuals unlike the modern society ostracising it as an deviant not-conforming with their standard. Not only the madness but also various strange characteristics were tolerated in the medieval age; in particular the renaissance period where the culture of uniqueness was the colourful uniqueness. 

It is not to romanticise the medieval feudalism where the social hierarchy is rigid and strict and the material living standard was far worse than the ancient time period: The medieval sanitary standard was very poor where illness and short life expectancy were the inevitable trends.  

Nevertheless, the medieval age could abolish the slavery introduced in the ancient age so that the peasants, the majority subordinate class then, could enjoyed their social freedom higher than the slavery and a poor stratum of the ancient civilians.  For example, the medieval peasants could enjoy their surplus of agricultural products especially during a good harvest.

Furthermore, regardless of their poor material living standard, the medieval peasants could be seen as socially freer than the modern industrial workers (Including the office workers and some intellectuals such as teachers and doctors).  The medieval peasants had shorter working hours than the modern industrial workers so then spared time and energy for cultural activities in their local community.  

The life of the medieval peasants was very short compared to the nowadays standard.  However, they and their communities had enough capability to welcome various unique characteristics of human individuals' traits not restraint from the artificial social standard. No one was seen as useless because they enjoyed something unique coming out of their short live life.  In another word, the balance of Yin-Yang seemed to be naturally maintained (although someone may argue that the Yin aspect could have been too strong for some medieval societies). 

Yuval Noah Harari indicated his future forecasts in his books that explain humans in the future will be divided between the upper class and the newly created lower social class called the useless class especially in the post AI revolution society.  Even though the new world will bring furthermore convenience with the advanced technology with a fast growing pace, the social division of individuals will be widened. 

Only the chosen individuals with the most updated skill-set with an even higher conformity level than now can be employable and able to thrive as the active social class.  By contrast, the other individuals who lack the skill set demanded by the production requirement and the societal standard will struggle to be employed/useful.  There will be a big division of individuals between those who are able to aspire to be well-recognised by the society and those who are unable to work hard enough to be recognised by the society.

The "useless" will be no longer a minority while the social dysfunction caused the anomie (losing something to follow in their life) will be even more severe.  Those individuals labelled individuals will be more prone to severe mental illnesses such as suicidal ideation, and committing crime or any other socially undesirable acts.  It is now urging to provide them with the meaning of their life.  

Because the aggregate productivity of the world will grow furthermore, the new diversification of its distribution should be introduced to save these individuals from their loss in their life.  The current societies of this world tend to excessively focus on the instant usefulness, the active side of individuals' characteristic represented as Yang.  By contrast, it is a time to remember that there are virtues in the passive side of individuals which will be beneficial in the longer term or in more comprehensive perspectives.

Even there are some individuals who are seen as completely useless by the society's mainstream definitely have a virtue, a mean of their existence, and a right to be happy.  This is really an arrogant attempt to label someone with a derogatory term in terms of the artificial standard which is against the natural flow of this universe.  Any existence naturally exits in a nature of this universe.  

 

All in all, it is the time to recall the aforementioned philosophical elements while expecting the technological growth.  It is the key to pay enough attention to both the active elements Yang and the passive elements Yin. For example, a balance between order (Yang) and tolerance (Yin) is a significant factor for accomplishing a healthy robust growth of economy and social order. This wisdom is a measure responding to social and spiritual illnesses anticipated to haunt nowadays onward. Then, the robust progress with minimum destructions can be expected.