This comes up a lot here, but in theory a government is supposed to make hard decisions to prevent that tragedy. On its own simply saying “tragedy of the commons” is like a trauma surgeon saying, “sucking chest wound,” without stepping in to fix it.
I think it's more like the surgeon is being held back by people saying "No, don't step in because you'll make it worse! The human body can heal itself." And you, the surgeon, can do nothing but mutter "a punctured lung ain't gonna heal itself."
A good surgeon should step in and accept the consequences, while saving a life; that is ultimately what they signed up for. No one said it would be easy or make you happy to do good, right?
Still, I’m not ignoring your point, which is solid.
