[s1artibartfast]

Thanks for bearing with me. I think some of the examples you gave good and rational reasons why some people might defer contributing to a valid cause on an individual level. There are a class of problems that do require scale, and some cases were the individual is preoccupied with mitigating their personal harm instead of addressing the root cause of the problem.

I think there are some cases where this is certainly the case.

The topic at large is a bit of a sore spot for me because I think many people use aspirations to collective action as excuse not to take personal action. There are also tons of problems where immediate action can be taken on on the individual or local level, and instances where individual or local action is far more effective than top down solutions!

There is a class of people that would essentially see a starving child, want to help, but do nothing while waiting for 350 million people to (maybe) come to consensus on some federal solution. It is some sort of learned helplessness where people are scared to take personal action. I think the free rider concern also plays a part, but don't particularly respect it. It is like saying I'm going to let the child in front of my house starve until my neighbor agrees to feed the child in front of their house too. Sometimes people should do the good thing because it is good and lead by example, and especially so when the valid situations you raised do not apply.