Saturday 24 March 2012

The tragedy of the commons applies everywhere

‘The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen.’

All resources are limited... the whole world is common so the tragedy of the commons applies everywhere.

If individual people are greedy and take too much this will always be to the detriment of the group. Whilst it cannot be consumed or depleted... land is a shared limited resource which must be used (claimed) with reservation and with deference to the group. Just because a resource is not given freely (common) and instead is owned privately doesn’t mean the tragedy of the commons doesn’t apply. The tragedy exists for all assets. We must be considerate of our neighbours both in the private market and the public market.

The tragedy of the commons applies not only to the commons.