*shrug* For a society to advance, it's people must advance. During Edison's time it may have been absurd to suggest many people should be like Edison (able to read). Today we have that expectation. Tomorrow we will expect more.
There will always be some who can't keep up. Society will carry a limited number of those folks despite their lack of contribution. But there is a limit to how many any society can or will carry. If people want more of society, society will ask more of people.
So what is your proposal for the millions of people who do not have the intellectual capacity to "be like Edison" and whose physical labor is being rendered obsolete by technological advances?