If you want a lot of education, that is possible.  If you want to be rich, you can do that.  If you want both, that can happen.  You just have to pick a path and follow it.  The world can't survive with only educated people, just as it can't exist with just rich or poor people.  We need all groups contributing.  There are PLENTY of college-educated people who are not working in careers related to their degrees, and loads of college grads who are poor.

Tradesmen can do very well.

There are many people without higher education who are self-made millionaires (I'm one of them).  

Being successful without a college degree is about possessing an innate curiosity about how the world works, having the ongoing thirst for self-taught knowledge, persevering, and always maintaining the motivation to succeed.