Tragedy of commons
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Tragedy of the Commons
situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating disaster for the entire community
what does the commons mean
“held in common” mean the resource is owned by : either No on (public) or owned by a group (shared) = all who have access to the resource
sustainability
meeting present needs of today’s populations w/o compromising the needs of future generations. To do this we must use resources at a rate lower than the rate at which they are replenished
examples of current tragedy of the commons
over extraction (mining) of ground water -diverting of fresh water from rivers for agriculture, cities and industry that very little reaches the sea-over fishing of seafood-uncontrolled human population growth leading to overpopulation -air pollution ( adding pollutants to the air) -deforestation for logging, mining, and agriculture-habitat disruption and fragmentation
Externality
the impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander
in summary tragedy of the commons involves
-privatization of profits/ benefits -socialization of costs/ risks -any cost of clean up is an externality for the company. They do not have to pay for the damage so why not fully exploit the resource? -“ I get to use all the resource I need to make money FOR ME but the cost of degrading the resource is everyone’s ( or no ones ) burden
What effect does self-interest have on sustainability of the resources of the commons
self-interest decreases the sustainability of the resources of the commons because it motivates many people to use a resource at a greater rate than he resource can be replenished because people prioritize short term gain
discuss the economic advantage and disadvantage of the use of commons
the economic advantage of using a commons is that all people of the opportunity to benefit from the shared resource because they have free access, while the disadvantage is that many people prioritize the short term and deplete the resource. It also is UN-regulated meaning that some will benefit more than others. This is also a boom and bust cycle because it is unregulated
Suggest @ least 2 ways in which a compromise between short term and long term (sustainable) gains can be achieved in the commons
one way a compromise can be formed is that people must establish a quota system or an agreed number that people can take. The second way is that you appoint a governing body that will regulate and manage the resource. This may even include a penalty for not following the rules.
how does “freedom in a commons bring ruin to all”
because each man will pursue their own best interest which results in the depletion of a common resource and int he long term ruin for all