it reminds me of climate change, pushing blame onto individuals while corporations and governments continue business as usual. sure, recycle that bottle. quarantine yourself. but in the grand scheme of things it makes very little difference compared to if corporations and governments took the actions necessary.

They won't do it for no reason at all, though. They will do it in response to public pressure.

Which means that change inevitably has to start with individuals. Trying to insist that it's corporations' and governments' job to make the first move is only useful in situations where assigning blame is more important than dealing with the problem.

Perhaps related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness

as an example, two weeks ago i made sure i had enough supplies to last a month. started taking precautions. social distancing, hand washing, etc. doing the best i can. then co-worker takes a coronavirus vacation due to discounted tickets. others are driving in from around the country for spring break. i've done all i can, but it's almost meaningless because others don't understand the risk and the government hasn't taken steps to limit movement and test.