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Tragedy of The Commons

Garrett Hardin's 1968 essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" discusses how unlimited access to a shared limited resource, or "commons", leads to environmental degradation, using the example of a common pasture land where each individual herder benefits by adding more cattle even though overgrazing damages the pasture; this results in the "tragedy of the commons" where open access systems fail to protect shared resources from being depleted, highlighting the need for regulation, privatization, or other solutions to avoid the overuse of common resources.

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349 views19 pages

Tragedy of The Commons

Garrett Hardin's 1968 essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" discusses how unlimited access to a shared limited resource, or "commons", leads to environmental degradation, using the example of a common pasture land where each individual herder benefits by adding more cattle even though overgrazing damages the pasture; this results in the "tragedy of the commons" where open access systems fail to protect shared resources from being depleted, highlighting the need for regulation, privatization, or other solutions to avoid the overuse of common resources.

Uploaded by

kfaradya99
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tragedy of the Commons

Garrett Hardin
Garrett Hardin – Economist

Authored essay in 1968 titled


“The Tragedy of the Commons”.

Focuses on:
1. environmental degradation
2. population growth
3. limited natural resources
4. privatization of land
What does commons mean?

A public resource available for private gain.

What are some “commons” that you can think


of?
What are common resources?

1. Air! No one owns the air-avail to all


2. Water in oceans & rivers is avail to all.
3. Fish of the sea avail to all.
Common Resources
Common Resources
Imagine…

 Hardin’s parable involves a pasture "open to


all."
 He asks us to imagine the grazing of animals
on a common ground.
 Individuals are motivated to add to their
flocks to increase personal wealth.
Tragedy of the Commons

 Every animal added to the total degrades


the commons a small amount.
 Although the degradation for each additional
animal is small, the gain in wealth for the
owner is greater.
Tragedy of the Commons

 As selfish stewards, each owner adds


another to their flock and the pasture.

 If all owners follow this pattern the commons


will ultimately be destroyed.
Tragedy of the Commons

 As a result, the commons were overgrazed


and degenerated to the point that they were
no longer able to support the villagers' cattle.
 This failure of owner of these private lands to
preserve the natural resources is known as
"the tragedy of the commons."
What is the “tragedy”?

 “We can avoid tragedy only by


altering our values.” Hardin, 1968

This means we can change the way


we live (sustainably) by preserving
our natural resources—even in the
private sector.
Strategies to avoid the tragedy

 Incentives
 Privatization
 Communication
 Education
Sustainability…
Meeting present needs of
today’s populations
without compromising the
needs of future
generations.
Standards of Sustainability= “SEE”

an extended social group


having a distinctive
cultural and economic
organization

Combination of all things


& factors external to
Society
individuals or Production
populations Consumption
Distribution

Environment Economy
Questions?

1. How does Tragedy of the Commons


ideas connect with the concept of
sustainability? Explain.

2. Does the “Commons” reflect utilitarian


conservation or biocentric
preservation?

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