Letters of Recommendation

I am applying for something that requires three letters of recommendation. The whole concept really annoys me. I just want to do what I want to do, and be judged on items generated by myself (like statements or transcripts). Naturally, letters of recommendation are all going to be basically positive, or those specific recommenders wouldn't have been asked. A person could be a complete dolt, socially repunant to most, incompetent, but if he or she has three pals willing to advance him or her, suddenly that person is great. Its just a hoop for jumping through, and meaningless. I loathe pestering people to do it, so I avoid applying for things that require them (and then, as a device for weeding people out, it works). I only applied for summer residencies that don't require them. And that saved me a lot of trouble. Not to mention the waste of resources and manpower spent on these things, accumulating to a grand pile of