So there is a name for it. This situation we are in where nearly everyone wants to improve their society and avoid climate crisis etc, but there is no change an individual can make to improve the situation. So everyone keeps doing the same thing, helplessly knowing their strategy contributes to everything being terrible.
I think it’s because nobody is willing to “go to extremes”. We know who the biggest offenders are when it comes to the climate. We know their names. We know where they live. And yet they are not constantly besieged in their homes and offices by protesters.
Yes that’s it. If we all did it together, we could change the world. But as individuals there is no effective action we can take.
Things like effective democracy, or powerful protest groups, could someday change the rules of the game. They could provide a low effort path for each individual to improve the collective (and his own) outcome.