One point that seems to have been lost in the comments is that academia is a 'safe space' for tough questions, theoretical questions, questions that don't have

One point that seems to have been lost in the comments is that academia is a 'safe space' for tough questions, theoretical questions, questions that don't have a profit motive. The degree to which they actually tackle those things is debatable, but there is value in research that doesn't happen on the exclusive behalf of shareholders.