Hey look, something else the government has ruined. Science.

Science is a process of inquiry; the most flawless process humans have ever created... but ironically often substantially flawed in practice, because humans practice it. Nonetheless, it remains our best, and probably only, reliable way to increase knowledge and give us the tools to better ourselves and our quality of life.
I would say its 'proper' role in society per se is as it has always been; to enable us to better understand all aspects of the physical world. Then as to what we do with that knowledge, well, our standard approach seems to be to stuff it up spectacularly and regularly...

Its a discrepancy i infer from the ever increasing economic gaps and the exploitation and abuse of ever increasing numbers of people and land accross the planet to fuel the greed of a tiny fraction of elitists

It is to inform us about our endeavours of a material nature like engineering, technology, medicine and enrich and empower society by improving the productivity and value of its institutions to create a better quality of life for, ideally, all living beings. Unfortunately, its uses and benefits are all too often hijacked for the pursuit of money at the expense of the planet and its inhabitants.

The proper role of science is to better mankind, and you could say science itself leads me to that conclusion.