I'm of two minds about this sort of skepticism.

On the one mind, successfully addressing the "meta topics" related to the real hard overwhelming problems of the world seems a far better way of improving the world than devoting one's life to addressing the object-level problems directly. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe," and all that.

On the other mind, the odds of any given attempt to address those "meta topics" being successful are punishingly low.

Back on the first mind, the odds of a successful attempt ever being made become much lower if nobody ever makes or supports attempts.

On the second mind, the expected opportunity costs associated with failed attempts might very well outweigh the expected value of a successful one.

Back on the first mind, those costs probably won't outweigh those associated with, say, World of Warcraft.