Tragedy of the Commons.pptx

Tragedy of the Commons.pptx

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  Tragedy of the Commons
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  tragedy of thecommons The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory by Garrett Hardin: It states that individuals acting independently and rationally according to each's self-interest behave contrary to the best interests of the whole group by depleting some common resource.
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  What does commonsmean? “Held in common” means the resource is owned by: No one…or Owned by a group all who have access to the resource.
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  What are commonproperty 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. Note: First codified by Romans in 535 AD.
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  Imagine… • Hardin’s parableinvolves 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.
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  Tragedy of theCommons 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.
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  Tragedy of theCommons 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.
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  Tragedy of theCommons 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."
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  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.
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  Sustainability… Meeting present needsof today’s populations without compromising the needs of future generations.
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  Standards of Sustainability=“SEE” Society Economy Environment an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization Production Consumption Distribution Combination of all things & factors external to individuals or populations