I guess it depends on how you see yourself and life but my own...

I guess it depends on how you see yourself and life but my own view is that we can rail against the world and be an expert on everything - a doomsayer who sees every flaw and impending failure, a person who accepts that things are flawed and usually the future is not entirely predictable and do what one can to make a difference and/or take an entirely detached view which is as you say to live in the present (but doing that may mean dropping some of the craving people have).

there is nothing worse than living with someone whose negativity and assuredness about how the sky is likely to fall in can ruin one’s sense of contentment. Especially when such doomsayers are hopelessly wrong and simultaneously excessively interested in promoting the impression that they are wealthier than most. Talk about mixed messages,

I think there’s a middle path which is to be aware of what is happening in the world, do ones bit but not be obsessive, and try to live a decent life

I'm inclined to the theory of homeostasis or Gaian theory as an alternative and if humans are a pestilence it won’t much matter what we do - we will outlive our usefulness