I’m new to Ethereum and crypto. What’s with the crazy fees?

I'm new here, please forgive me if I'm missing something. I just started learning about crypto and Ethereum. To play around, I bought a small amount of ETH (£10 worth) and sent it to a wallet. That ate more than half of it. What's left in the wallet can't be sent anywhere, because the fees are higher than the total amount. Fair enough — like I said, I'm learning. But here's my question: what could possibly be the point of such a currency (I'm talking digital currency, not other blockchain applications)? Ethereum.org talks about "Peer-to-peer payments" and calls ETH "open to anyone" and "available in flexible amounts", without making any clear mention of fees at all. I get it, there isn't a middle man — but in effect, it's just like banks, except slower and much, much more expensive. Isn't it? Why would I want to skip the middle man if he's much cheaper and faster than the revolutionary digital replacement? Thanks for any insights!