Some devices have greater power demands than others. So there are two design choices that can be made: (1) require all chargers and cables to support charging all devices; or (2) allow "lesser" chargers and cables.
Choosing (1) would have meant that everything would work as you expect, but then even the cheapest devices would have to come with an unnecessarily beefy (and therefore expensive) chargers.
Choosing (2) results in potential for the situation that you described. Lesser chargers and cables cannot charge more demanding devices.
I'm pretty sure (1) would simply have not been practical. It would have been wasteful and the expense would kill adoption. So they went with (2).
Choosing (1) would have meant that everything would work as you expect, but then even the cheapest devices would have to come with an unnecessarily beefy (and therefore expensive) chargers.
Choosing (2) results in potential for the situation that you described. Lesser chargers and cables cannot charge more demanding devices.
I'm pretty sure (1) would simply have not been practical. It would have been wasteful and the expense would kill adoption. So they went with (2).
Seems reasonable to me.