here's a pic i found where the weight had strangely sheared off completely but the pulley still worked-
View attachment 144427
you can see the rubber 'doughnut' which usually separates from the outer ring, allowing the inner lugs (obviously broken off in this pic) to smack against the spokes which then results in this-
View attachment 144428
i wouldn't like to guess how long it would take to chew right through those spokes...
though without the damper on, i would think a lot longer. then of course you have the issue of no damper, so excessive vibration on the crankshaft. so going back to my original question, what would be the lesser of two evils?