THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMONS

A case for private ownership of property

A classic premise in economic thinking is the little story known as “The Tragedy of The Commons.”

For those of you in Rio Linda (as you know who would say) simplified it is explained: If a parcel of property is owned by a group, rather than one controlling entity, it can lead to overuse by one individual to the detriment of the entire group of owners.

The original example was a parcel of land owned by all the local citizens.  It is then known as “the common.”  The local citizens (the “commoners”) who grazed their livestock on the common were free to use it as much as they wished. The concern was that one or several citizen/users would overgraze to their benefit and to the detriment of all the others. Eventually the land could become barren.

The concept grew out of an essay in 1833 by economist William Foster Lloyd.

The key part of his essay is here.

“If a person puts more cattle into his own field, the amount of the subsistence which they consume is all deducted from that which was at the command, of his original stock; and if, before, there was no more than a sufficiency of pasture, he reaps no benefit from the additional cattle, what is gained in one way being lost in another. But if he puts more cattle on a common, the food which they consume forms a deduction which is shared between all the cattle, as well that of others as his own, in proportion to their number, and only a small part of it is taken from his own cattle. In an enclosed pasture, there is a point of saturation, if I may so call it, (by which, I mean a barrier depending on considerations of interest,) beyond which no prudent man will add to his stock. In a common, also, there is in like manner a point of saturation. But the position of the point in the two cases is obviously different. Were a number of adjoining pastures, already fully stocked, to be at once thrown open, and converted into one vast common, the position of the point of saturation would immediately be changed”.^[5]

In 1968 Garrett Hardin, an ecologist, brought new life to the “Tragedy of the Commons” in an article. Hardin’s emphasis was directed more to the preservation of the “ecology.”  Overpopulation was his main concern.  More about Hardin:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Hardin(Hardin was also known for his opinions  on abortion, and forced sterilization)

Others argue that only government or private ownership can prevent The Tragedy of The Commons.

Much more on this subject can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

What do you think?  We would like your comments