My overall perception of what has been happening since humans existed is 2 layered.
Layer 1 is pure evil. I'm not a christian. I've never really studied the bible. I tend to lean more toward Buddhist ideas, but it has become obvious to me that evil is a real physical thing. Most of us never experience pure evil, so we don't understand what it is. I can say I never have experienced it directly. But in the idea of a balanced universe, if there is pure good, there must be pure evil, and there is an eternal battle between the two to gain ground. Maybe that ground each side seeks to gain is our souls.
Living, in my estimation, is the mode of the soul to develop into light or darkness. We are given these physical bodies in order to experience the chaotic universe around us. So in essence, the earth is a battle ground for our souls.
So that makes the second layer, our physical manifestations and where we, as spiritual beings, decide to choose the light or dark. Some of us as humans are born into the darkness, we live closer to the darkness and have benefited from it, and wish to bring more people over to the darkness, darkness has more physical power than light which is why its so much harder to overcome in the physical realm and seems to reap more tangible benefits than walking on the lighter side. So it is a spiritual challenge for us to ascend above this darkness into the light, which has more spiritual power. I believe that humans are at an evolutionary cusp, where those who have chosen evil, maybe unwittingly, are moving further and further away from the light, and those who are fighting are having to fight harder to ascend into the light which is spiritual, not physical and much harder to attain.
These people that are manipulating the masses are focused on the dark physical realm. All their rewards are here on earth, now. But the problem is... we all die. And what do they become then? Bottom dwellers? Are the evil dark entities trying to change the spiritual realm by enslaving humans to the darkness so their souls take over the light? Or is it a "Misery loves company" type of thing? I don't know. But you notice, these people sure are afraid of dying. So much so they kill others and do terrible things to prevent it.
Hope that didn't sound too kooky. But to me... since none of us are immortal (that we know of). 100 years seems like a tiny amount of time to be so worried about money and things. It always leads back to the spiritual.
Just my own crazy thoughts.