"we need workers and skills and not a bunch of theories and ivory tower postulations"

I think we need a little of both. Skills and workers are the hands and legs of every community as academia is the brain of every community. A person needs both their mind and muscles to function ideally, so I would think a community needs smart thinkers and knowledgable workers to function ideally. If we only had theories and ivory tower postulations, we would all have great ideas but nothing would ever get done. If it was all just workers, businesses would excel in their production but they would lack improvements, innovations, and organization. It would suck having one without the other.