Jospeh: you’re partially right here. Some subjects which are taught are not really needed, but if the schools want government money, they have to teach them.
That said, if a person isn’t cut out to sit and learn, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing an education to make a living.
Your point of what they will ask you when you die is something I’ve often thought about. I learned in a yeshiva which is mainly supported by one extremely wealthy man. He is obviously very smart, and had he gone into learning, could probably be a big gadol.
There’s a famous story with the Netziv. He said that when someone dies, he’s not asked “Why weren’t you a R’ Akiva Eiger?” – he said, had I not sat and learned, when I go up there, I would have been asked, “Why weren’t you the Netziv? Where are the seforim you were supposed to write?”
Now, the person who supports the yeshiva I learned in didn’t write any seforim. Could he have? Possibly. But, people from that yeshiva have already written many seforim. So, when he eventually gets up to Shamayim, they may ask him, “Where are the sefotim you were supposed to write?” He can respond, “I didn’t write them. But look, because of me, there are dozens of other seforim which were written instead.”
Is that so bad?