Helpless? No, not entirely. If you can see that somebody is controlling things, and you understand something of what their goals are, you’re in a better position to adjust and survive than the fellow who subscibes to the “accidental theory of history”.
The American Revolution was a revolution against determinism. The idea that some are born to rule and others born to be ruled was rejected, and a war was fought to settle the argument.
But the idea didn’t go away - and never will. Where King George III failed to convince, Darwin (et al.) would try again. And today those who pull the strings are shrewd enough not to rub our faces in it and thereby risk an uprising.