Is philosophy needed

"Philosophy: Who needs it?" by Ayn Rand would seem tailor made for your question.

In short, it is needed. It is a map of life of sorts, that shows where on is, where they want to (or should) go, and how they are to get there.

More collectively, it is a map of a nation's life, as well, that also shows where they are, where they want to (or should) go, and how they are to get there.

Philosophy also helps give a framework to people that allows them to make decisions quicker. As a crude example, if one is already a Libertarian (a kind of political philosophy) they do not have to ponder whether or not to legalize drugs. It's an automatic "yes" as they are opposed to all "victimless crimes", any way.

With no philosophy, each of those "would you legalize" questions would have to be considered seperately.

Of course, you can see some drawbacks to this as well, especially if the philosophy is flawed (meaning disagreeable to you!).

But in general, it can be said that a person, or nation, will always go further with any kind of philosophy as opposed to none at all. And the better the philosophy, the further they'll go.