Tragedy of the Commons Few people would deny that overpopulation is a major problem. Even sparsely populated nations feel the brunt of the overpopulation problem because overpopulation affects the environment, politics, and the global market economy. The world currently holds six billion plus individual human beings, an unprecedented number. Rainforests are being cut down and soil depleted of their natural nutritive qualities in an attempt to please human appetites and keep

Tragedy of the commons refers to a situation where each individual, when engaged in profit-maximizing behavior, causes overall damage to common property. The principle reflects two ideas. The first is the economic idea of profit maximization, wherein it is held that in general each individual will seek to maximize their own outcomes. The second idea is that in doing so individuals will generally exploit common property. Indeed, transactions between individuals

Such an arrangement may work reasonably satisfactorily for centuries because tribal wars, poaching, and disease keep the numbers of both man and beast well below the carrying capacity of the land. Finally, however, comes the day of reckoning, that is, the day when the long-desired goal of social stability becomes a reality. At this point, the inherent logic of the commons remorselessly generates tragedy." Hardin wants us to remember that

The solution that Hardin proposes is that of a coercive method; as always he gives a lucid example to support the point that he proposes. Hardin reminds the reader that society mutually agreed to make it illegal to rob banks, rather than appeal to the sense of responsibility to those who wish to rob banks as a means of deterring them. Bank robbers (real and potential) know that very immediate

Tragedy of the Commons In Garrett Hardin's essay "Tragedy of the Commons," the author presents a radical solution to the overpopulation problem. The title of the essay refers to a scenario presented by a mathematician in 1833. In the scenario, a communal pasture is enjoyed by several herdsmen in a given area. Everything is fine until "social stability" is achieved (2). When that happens, each herdsman feels entitled, even obliged, to

More importantly, Sen argues that the collaborative approach would be a more successful route to reducing population growth. Among the ideas mentioned by Sen would be incorporating better public education to promote genuine understanding of problems and the reasons why changing certain behavior would be appropriate. In general, Sen expresses the confidence that Hardin lacks that many people could be taught long-range morality the same way many people already learn