If Clojure was a bad tool then people wouldn't be using it in the first place. There is a big barrier to getting started with Clojure because it's semantically different from mainstream languages. The mere fact that people use it and there are successful companies built on it demonstrates that the language does provide value.
Your argument is based on a fallacy. The whole reason PHP became popular was that it was easy to get started with. The barrier for using PHP or JavaScript is very low. The opposite is true for a language like Clojure.
