Actually I think the contrary. Foriegn Languages are extremely important, especially for the future.
We live in a globalised world, and most of our top industries operate on an international scale. Furthermore, there isn't really a 'centre of the world' as there was in previous centuries, namely America or Britain, and it is in fact developing nations that may be the kingmakers of the future global economy and its operations. Learning foriegn languages, and indeed their respective cultures, is a fantastic way not only to prepare for comfortable, open communication with those types of people, but also provides an assett to multi-national organisations as it opens up prospects of better business/innovation etc. Furthermore, foriegn languages in general open an individual up to a wider job market.
I often wonder why the British and indeed Americans are rather abrasive when it comes to languages. At my school, we were forced to take 2 languages at GCSE and one in the IB, which I initially hated, but now have grown to really respect. I know that my knowledge in Japanese will definitely help me if I wish to pursue a legal career at an international firm, or my knowledge in Arabic will help me if i want a job in the Mid.East (though right now i doubt that). With just english, it tends to be the case that one is restricted in terms of opportunities, and I think part of our unemployment problem lies here. The chinese kids i know are able in 3 languages, including english, which is probably part of why they are so attractive to employers.
Back to the point, no, foriegn languages are far from a wasted degree. Tbh, one can learn history, philosophy, chemistry etc at home if they needed to, and if we only pursued degrees with a practical element, well lets just say A LOT of courses would be axed. In my opinion, knowledge of a foriegn language, especially in this job market, puts you in a more marketable position than most graduates.