I feel that you are both right and there’s something in between. I don’t think really anyone can plead ignorance to environmental damage at this point. There’s nobody alive who doesn’t know that cigarettes are bad for you, at this point, but still, all smokers choose to take that first puff, and people have differing amounts of fervor about stopping, if they do at all.
Still, you have a point that nobody is a rational actor all the time. And even rational actors are subject to the tragedy of the commons. And some, rich or not, are just not interested in morals or the long term good.
I feel that you are both right and there’s something in between. I don’t think really anyone can plead ignorance to environmental damage at this point. There’s nobody alive who doesn’t know that cigarettes are bad for you, at this point, but still, all smokers choose to take that first puff, and people have differing amounts of fervor about stopping, if they do at all.
Still, you have a point that nobody is a rational actor all the time. And even rational actors are subject to the tragedy of the commons. And some, rich or not, are just not interested in morals or the long term good.