That's an interesting take Jasper ... I've thought about it a bit but not sure what my opinions are on the purpose. It's a hard question.

I'd add that the purpose might be different for different individuals in the societal system. IIRC, Machievelli stated that the purpose of a government was to obtain and maintain power over others ... with the overall objective of waging war. Then the purpose really isn't to help people, but to exploit/harm them to the maximum degree possible, without the people coming back and chopping the ruler's head off.

So, it might be the case that there's no one purpose in an applied system, but a cluster of conflicting purposes?