Society needs competence.
Without genuinely skilled people in genuinely useful jobs, everything falls apart.
But there's more to it than that.
We can't improve our existing structures until we've been through a requisite disciplinary process.
Until we're competent players, we haven't earned the right to criticise the game.
"Player" and "game" are intentionally ill-defined, but the point stands. And the alternative (premature, arrogant cynicism) only serves to create ultra-entitled young people who are better at looking productive than being productive.
As the world moves faster and technology progresses, the "games" we play will change.
But some kind of apprenticeship remains necessary if we want to earn our seat at the table.