The limits of resources

In addition to the pathology to help despite protestation and evidence of harm; there's also the question of "with whose resources?"

Now we can see with hoarders and some others that their zeal to do "good deeds" may take away from their own resources to the detriment of their health and that of their children. ( World of Warcraft didn't invent parental neglect. )

But when the resources are those belonging to others ( shall we ironically call them "public?" ) then the zealot can go far beyond the point where their taking away would become evident were it stealing from their own larder.

Marx talked about labor being alienated from its product. But the well-doers tend to alienate the cost of giving from themselves, as well as the effect.

The doctor cited in your article is a rare case of someone standing in the presence of the man whose suffering he is causing with his "altruism." Most prefer to take from half a continent away and give to half a planet away.

With this kind of giving, the damage can be more long-lasting before the truth is brought home.

Dante