"Change will come when people realize their own perfection and learn to respect themselves enough to see that same perfection in others."
"This world is run by criminals."
Do criminals harbor this "perfection" too or do they fall into a class of "deplorables"? Are the leaders misguided? I think they are misguided but they are too far beyond the ability to fix themselves and they have no motivation to do so.
It seems like you are arguing for the breakdown of the "Dominance Hierarchy". As long as there are social pressures for limited resources, the Dominance Hierarchy might be a good thing for the individual but there are definitely more civilized ways to conduct ourselves. We are quickly evolving into a situation of unlimited resources as long as we keep our population in check (or microbes do it for us) . We are also in a situation, as you alluded to, where the "dominators" don't have the best interests of the less dominant at heart.
I used to think that I could do good in the world by marching up the Dominance Hierarchy into a position of power so I could help people. It turns out that once you get there, you have to join a corrupt cabal and behave in a certain way that is parasitic on society. No thanks.