Education doesn't guarantee a high-level job (however we define it); but almost all high-level jobs require good education.
> Most people don't understand that "dirt and money go hand-in-hand".
This is plainly false.
There is something to the fact that not everyone will need or benefit from a degree but the way you're rationalising it seems off. It's like you're saying that we should keep people uneducated so they don't get too uppity about what they do in life and we have them fill the worst jobs out there that nobody wants.