Example Of Essay On Tragedy Of The Common

The Tragedy of the Commons is an article authored by Garret Hardin in 1968. In this article, Hardin presents a sensational and compelling formulation of the human population problem. He poses the problems of population in very stark terms. He first examines the relationship between the human population and the available resources and makes a conclusion that there is a need for the population to be effectively controlled. He then engages in a comprehensive discussion of the reasons that have led to the observed swelling of the current population. Hardin then uses this analysis to propose plausible solutions.
Hardin’s kicks off his theory with the assertion that “The population problem has not technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension into morality”. Hardin claims that overpopulation is a moral problem. The reason for this is that no technical solutions that are based on the natural sciences exist for this problem. In contrary, solving the human population problems requires a change in the human ideas of morality and values. His main assertion is that a change of behavior is mandatory for the population problem to be solved. To support his thesis, he quotes the work of Adam Smith titled “The Wealth of Nations” which presents the theory that all humans are rational beings who are capable for making individual decisions that when assembled in a collective manner lead to the most desirable outcomes for the society. At this point, Hardin then makes a pasture and a herdsman analogy, which brings out the “tragedy of commons” theory. The “Tragedy of commons” refers to a situation when individuals benefit is essentially encouraged by consequences shared commonly. It happens for instance when several people assemble to share a certain land’s cost. To a single individual, the benefit that is accrued by adding one extra animal is observed, as being greater than the individual cost of this dying land. This assumption inadvertently leads to the destruction of the land as every individual tries to balance the land’s competitive advantage that is gained by the other stakeholders of the land by overexploiting the land themselves. According to Hardin, this process occurs in two major stages. First, one individual tries to acquire competitive advantage by pursuing self-interests usually at other stakeholder’s expense. The second stage takes place when other people make a realization that they are essentially missing out on the land and they therefore start trying to acquire their deserved share before other competitors do. In simple terms, what Hardin is stating is that the selfish action of one individual will eventually lead to the destruction of a common good that could have been enjoyed by all people. Hardin goes onto claim that there is a need a need for all of us to “re-examine our individual freedoms to see which ones are defensible”.
Hardin them goes forwards to present several solutions that he thinks might work. First, he rejects some of the proposed solutions to the tragedy of commons through a series of arguments. The first argument that he rejects is the privatization for the available commons. He also rejects the use of designed methods of distribution when it comes to the allocation of the commons. In addition, Hardin does not think the “appeals to conscience” might work. According to him, propaganda is not bound to work. In fact, it is only an excuse for people to avoid some of the hard decisions that people are required to take. Hardin states that people must abandon temptations to make appeals to independent captions using slogans such as those of “responsible parenthood”.
As mentioned earlier, Hardin’s main assertion is that the problem of population is a moral problem that requires a re-orientation of people’s moral thinking. According to him, individual responsibility is only achievable through new social arrangements that essentially produce responsibility via coercion. In regards to this, he states that social arrangements are “mutual coercion mutually agreed upon by the majority of people affected”.
Hardin contends that education will be key in the breaking of people from the commons logic and will also help to avoid the loss of freedom cries that would definitely come with the closing of the commons.
According to Hardin, something clearly needs to be done to restrain the enormous level of individual reproduction. He however emphasizes on the fact that this cannot be done with individual conscience. He states that appealing to the individual conscience will just lead to a situation where there fewer people in the population with conscience. As mentioned earlier, this should be achieved b “mutual coercion mutually agreed upon by the majority of people affected”. Hardin states that the sacrifice of the individual freedom of breeding with lead to the attainment of other more crucial freedoms that would have otherwise be not achieved. Hardin maintains that everyone’s unspoken right to determine his or her family’s size must be rescinded with immediate effect. This according to Hardin will inadvertently protect the general population’s conscientious traits.
Hardin however recognizes the problem of trying to make people agree to this coercion system. He states that people are bound to consent if they are made to understand the dangerous consequences that may emanate from letting the population growth be simply set by the choices of an individual. This is why there is a need for people to be educated about the dangerous consequences of the tragedy of the commons and the alternatives that are available to it.
However, Hardin’s arguments are not devoid of criticism. His main glaring error is his argument regards the laissez faire argument. He claims that economics based on such a system will not lead to the creation of incentives when it comes to small families. One of the most common arguments today in relation to population growth is that the parents residing in developed countries usually chose to only have few children because they are supposedly costly. On the other hand, the parents in under developed countries have many children for social security purposes. In light of this argument, this would explain why the countries in Europe as well as the United States have very low rates of population growth rates. However, the almost zero rate of population growth rate has also led to enormous problems in these countries. This prompt’s one to ask the question of whether Hardin’s assertions are wrong or whether the economic problems of the European continent are merely transaction cost that have accompanied the swing towards a relatively new equilibrium.
In conclusion, Hardin’s assertions in this famous article make a lot of sense. Individuals cannot be left to make independent decisions meant for the society’s long-term interests. There is no doubt that making appeals towards personal responsibility will massively fail. In light of this, coercion, which results in individual liberty loss, is the only means of averting the ruin that will be brought about by the Tragedy of Commons.