If only we could have a human civilization based on a sincere respect for truth, how different things would be. However, that is not how it works. Power is used by powerful people to defend their own interests, and much more rarely is it used for the good of the human race in general. And even when people are extremely selfish (as a great many people) they may not act even in their own self interest, because many powerful people are also arrogant and foolish. For example, it does not benefit Tom Cruise to be a Scientologist. He thinks it does, but he has paid a heavy price without even realizing it.
Many powerful people have resisted all efforts to honestly remedy the issue of rising greenhouse gas levels and resulting global warming, even though the environmental calamities that have already begun will hurt them at least as much as they hurt anyone else (in the sense that they have more to lose - admittedly, they are not going to be the first to starve or to be made homeless by rising sea levels). Why is there such a ridiculously large, out-of-control fire in the region of Fort McMurray, Alberta? Because climate change has produced a lot more dried out vegetation than is normal. That is the merest harbinger of what is coming, as was the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. These disasters do affect the wealthy and powerful, as well as the poor and the powerless, but still, some powerful people do not want to even admit that a problem exists. So it is not just selfishness at work, it is selfishness and stupidity.
The world has never made sense, not ever. Deranged rulers throw the world into chaos at their whim, and loyal (or terrified) populations do as they are told. This is still happening in the year 2016. The President of Syria, Bashar al Assad, has sewn chaos throughout the middle east and even into Europe in the form of a refugee crisis. Just one evil person could do all that, and no one could stop him. We do not yet know how much chaos Kim Jong Un will cause with his nuclear weapons. We do not know if Venezuela can emerge from the economic collapse caused by the policies of their idiotic leadership.
What can we do in a world that does not make sense? We do the best we can.