I agree with you that some people are better at algebra than others. But in my day, everyone took it and everyone had to pass it to move forward. Learning can be very tough and that is where personal satisfaction comes in through achieving the difficult.
I just get so frustrated with these threads. Especially with the people who say that anyone who does not know algebra must not have any intelligence. I busted my butt trying to learn algebra and just never got it. I would still be in high school if there had not been some way around it. My husband says I probably just had bad teachers, but who knows.