Yes, the old systems are effective. A lowly candidate private pilot must demonstrate proficient VOR navigation to obtain a certificate — not sure about light sport, recreational, or gliders — along with commercial pilots and airline transport pilots (ATPs). GPS is not mandatory equipment. Even if so equipped, the GPS can fail.
Yes, at least some of the redundant ground-based radio navaids should remain in place as backups.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007#In...
(I also remember looking through ancient manuals and building up an intuition for troubleshooting and fixing a thermionic valve-based RADAR, at least once in high seas with almost zero visibility as howling winds and lashing rain was pushing us towards a rock face. Fun times.)
Reagan made GPS open to international civilian use because there was literally no other tool that could accurately help planes not get murdered by the Russians, etc.
But now you're suggesting that the older tools were effective enough and should remain in place 30 years after civilian GPS?