Tragedy of the Commons

Tragedy of the Commons is considered an economic issue in which every individual attempts to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource. As more people target for the benefits, less people get to enjoy it. Tragedy of commons happens when an individual ignores societies potential growth and instead is in pursuit of their personal growth. Ever heard the saying “there’s no I in team?” Well that saying is completely ignored when it comes to the tragedy of the commons.

In 1968, Garrett Hardin addressed his views regarding the commons. Hardin specifically addressed the danger of the increasing population. Hardin rejects the idea of improved production technology allowing an indefinite increase in population. “A finite world can support only a finite population.” He gets specific as he denies the idea of quality improving in both life and population. Mathematically, it is proven impossible.

According to Adam’s Smith’s laissez-faire doctrine, Smith believes the opposite of Harding. Smith on the other hand, thinks that the “invisible hand” will allow the system of individuals pursuing their private interests will actually serve the collective interest. Hardin was well prepared as he used an important metaphor, the Tragedy of the Commons. He stated when a resource is held “in common,” with many people having access to “ownership,” it will limit the usage. People will exploit the resources and this will drop the supply of the resources.

It’s quite simple as to what Hardin thinks will help solve this issue. He strongly believes that limiting the population per family could help resolve this issue. He addresses that a lot of parents have kids because of welfare. Welfare shouldn’t be available according to his method, because then over-breeders would then have to pay for their profligacy. However, the issue is that people’s motivation for having babies is not the same everywhere and at every time. It varies depending