A real fix is forcing everyone in a large area to contribute to fixing a problem. If enough people can’t be compelled to contribute the problem can’t be fixed. Doing something that costs you resources but doesn’t fix the problem and negatively affects you vs others who aren’t contributing but are competing with you isn’t a viable option.
In prisoners dilemma you may preach always cooperate but you have to defect if your counterparty won’t play fair. Similarly warren Buffett can preach that billionaires should pay more taxes but not pay any extra voluntarily until all billionaires have to.
But that’s a fix to a global problem that you won’t fix anyway. What you can do is allocate some resources to fixing a lesser problem “this guy had nothing to eat today”.
It seems to me that your argument proves too much—when faced with a problem that you can fix you can always say “it is a part of a bigger problem that I can’t fix” and do nothing.
A real fix is forcing everyone in a large area to contribute to fixing a problem. If enough people can’t be compelled to contribute the problem can’t be fixed. Doing something that costs you resources but doesn’t fix the problem and negatively affects you vs others who aren’t contributing but are competing with you isn’t a viable option.
In prisoners dilemma you may preach always cooperate but you have to defect if your counterparty won’t play fair. Similarly warren Buffett can preach that billionaires should pay more taxes but not pay any extra voluntarily until all billionaires have to.
But that’s a fix to a global problem that you won’t fix anyway. What you can do is allocate some resources to fixing a lesser problem “this guy had nothing to eat today”.
It seems to me that your argument proves too much—when faced with a problem that you can fix you can always say “it is a part of a bigger problem that I can’t fix” and do nothing.