It's not a surprise that most of students failed and hate abstract algebra right ? I mean to learn the concept, you will need to know more about the concept itself in a real world context.
Highly intelligent people can learn without any real world context (and I'm not one of them). Obviously there are problems with unapplied learning (or learning for learning's sake), but it is certainly possible.
It's practical and productive and profitable, which is great, but not really the original goal.