LowNSlow,
Agree with you 100% I cannot see any requirement for or virtue in a R&B in a civillian environment or in a light aircraft save for those being used for military training. The R&B is a military manouvre designed for use during conflict when a returning aircraft may be damaged or under threat and as such is practiced during peacetime. It is not, however the only manner in which a military jet can approach and land hence a standard circuit may be flown or an SRA or the like performed.
In a civilian environment what purpose is served by an R&B? If you want to throw an aircraft around you have plenty of sky away from the circuit in which to do it. If you want to pose and/or fulfill some sort of military wannabe fantasy then IMHO you shouldn't be in an aircraft in the first place.
I have flown run in and breaks in military jets and I'll admit there is a degree of fun in them, especially a formation break but then there are a lot of things that are fun in a jet that simply don't translate into a piston single no matter how macho its pilot thinks his mount is. I also wonder how many non-military pilots know what a proper R&B is - most light aircraft will run out of speed too quickly to perform the manouvre properly. The fairly constant curve allowing the speed to bleed off simply turns into a shortened circuit in most light aircraft.