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Jenni MacLean
Jenni MacLean
The Tragedy of the Commons 🎭signifies a situation in which a common good is shared by several people (or, in this class, species). In the paper by Garrett Hardin (1968) that explains this phenomenon, he explains that participants in this resource sharing will take more and more of the resource given that it serves their cause. In his article, Hardin used the example of field open to herders or farmers, in which the addition of animals directly leads to increases in profit. This overuse of resources leads to overgrazing, which ultimately destroys the pasture for all herders. When thinking about this in an environmental sense, we will see that people will continue practicing certain habits believing that, on a global scale, their actions have no consequences. This leads to many examples of the tragedy where a resource is depleted or destroyed because of overuse for one's gain.
Examples of
Ways to regulate people's actions:
Scenarios of Commons
This concept can be applied to any common good; let's look at a few examples and apply the regulations to solve the degradation of the commons.
Image Courtesy of Pixaby
Halloween Candy 🍬: A bowl full of Halloween candy left outside is a common good; everyone owns and has access to it. It's not stealing to take one or even all of it to yourself because the person who left it intended for people to take it. So, taking the entire bowl of candy increases your gain by a lot and only mildly hurts the people who come after you and find the bowl empty. This is the idea that if it's not going to significantly hurt anyone, it's worth the gain.
Image Courtesy of Pixabay
Ocean Fishing 🎣: International waters are unowned, without any environmental regulations. They are also, naturally, full of unique, different, and many kinds of fish. If you go fishing, you can take what is only necessary for your household/person/meal, or you can take what you can catch for profit. Your contribution to the ocean depletion in that one trip will be, in all, minimal (if you don't take the fish, the next boat behind you will).
Here is another example of a tragedy of the commons. Can you identify laws, privatization, and education strategies for preserving the commons?
Image Courtesy of Pixaby
City Bus 🚌: While riding on the city bus, you are tempted to graffiti on the back of the seat. You enjoy the experience and decide the small downside to others is worth your gain. The following person who must sit there is mildly upset about the graffiti but not specifically harmed. You would never graffiti that person’s living room chair because that would damage their personal property and cause them extreme unhappiness, but the city bus belongs to everyone and is a different story.
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