The game has split into multiple difficulties trying to cater to all levels of gameplay. I personally think LFR is a bad mode, since it's not a real raid if bosses just fall over dead to a weak disorganized group. But apparently some people actually like it.
But I don't think gear is an appropriate goal. I don't raid in order to get gear, I get gear in order to kill raid bosses. Killing the hard bosses is the goal for me. Gear just is an instrument that increases my dps. So the only question is what level of dificulty I can tackle based on my level of skill. If there was only one difficulty the game would always be too hard or too easy for a lot of people.
If gear is your goal, raiding is definitely unnecessary. But then you didn't really care about raiding to begin with, so what is the big deal?