Re the saving lives vs taking them 'thing' - ISTR the ex-SAR-heli pilot and UK company CEO, now the boss of an excellent Air Ambulance operation, trotting out that line as it was a particular favourite of his. He wasn't too pleased when one of his pilots, a relatively-recent ex-AAC Apache operator, added a comment along the lines of "but we were doing our best to catch up".
My take on the OP question is - I'm really grateful that they were invented, otherwise I'd have had to work for a living instead of being paid to do my hobby. Messrs Cierva, Sikorsky et al have my eternal gratitude.