Like in the mkt, in life too there are contrarian views to everything. The practical thing is that people generally do what they want to do and not what they should do and that is where all the management problems arise.
All these optimistic sayings "Have faith that , despite appearances , people are doing the best they can." are good because they keep you in a positive frame of mind but it is prudent to also mix them with a tinge of realism. Even in the mkt if you try to remain bullish or bearish all the time, you are bound to lose. Being a realist, you are likely to win. Overoptimism is full of pitfalls.
Each one is indeed doing what one is destined to. Some uneducated businessmen become billionaires and some like shakespeare, Munshi premchand, Hockey wizard Dhyanchand live a life of penury and obscurity. Talk about the vagaries of existance.