This fascinating map of the path the curiosity rover has taken since landing really helps put this into perspective
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/location-map/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/location-map/
And at the same time over here we move fast and break things, we have regime changes. People chasing the latest fads or quarterly gains. Min/maxing.
I find some solace in that somewhere we are still able to make these long running missions. I hope we develop such long term vision also for the more near problems of our world. (Both in time and space.)
Also, what makes you think the world doesn't have any long-term vision? It's easier to plan (not execute, obviously) on shooting a rover onto Mars (relatively) than it is to plan what a country is going to do in a year.