Its fine to be skeptical of traditional education, but this is just downright cynicism. Of course you can teach yourself, and 9/10 that is how you have to do it structured education or slip through the cracks. It still offers situations and interactions with real people that you don't get on the internet or books alone, not to mention the time to explore things that arn't 100% about making money or leading to future financial opportunities.
as for financial issues this is totally based on the current economy. Up until recently degrees certainly did matter, and they didn't have to be from Ivy League schools. Just because there are alot of educated people on their ass right now, doesn't mean that once a gig in sociology opens up they'll hand it to some adventurous blogger who knows the real deal on society. Some degrees clearly have no financial value, but they are still totally necessary for pursuing professional degrees, which laymen have no chanc of obtaining.
In major cities and in certain fields, tons of successful people teach. They do this either because they enjoy it, or because the field itself isn't profitable for most, like theater or writing or visual art. This is a total double standard, because its like saying all the people that havn't gone to college but genuinely know things, if they arn't making bank with it than they are also unsuccessful and unqualified to teach anything or be respected in any way.
