Speaking as someone who realised a long time agao a Phd was out of reach, I would characterise all "hard" science training (mostly the phd track) as the opposite of herd immunity for the human species - we need a tiny few of the species to be well trained enough, intelligent enough, renumerated enough that the innovations to sustain 7bn people at material levels I think of as bare minimum (ironically the level of subsistence of a phd student)

frankly if it's not looking worth it to you, the rest of the herd should remeber to vote for candidates willing to put the cash into science at all levels. Maybe I will ask Mitt Romney when I see him on Reddit.