Useless things

Mitchell Kalpakgian has an excellent piece about Hard Times in Crisis magazine. Here's a short excerpt: "Dickens illustrates that the so-called 'useful' things of the world—facts, work, and money—ultimately prove to be useless in life’s major crises, while the 'useless' activities scorned by the utilitarians—play, friendship, charity, hope, and beauty—prove to be infinitely valuable and, ultimately, more beneficial than facts."