I see your point; I think that saying “the system won”, though, is an easy story to tell that doesn’t reflect what actually happens very well. I don’t see how the starving-people-to-death part of the system and the space-race part are sufficiently connected that the space-race part winning helps the starving-people-to-death part.
Try replacing “starving people to death” with “putting people in ovens”.
Try replacing “starving people to death” with “putting people in ovens”.