Tragedy of the Commons Problem definition This is about allocation of scare resources and greed. Individuals use an available resource (limited, but renewable) solely on the basis of individual need. At first they get are rewarded for using it, but eventually get diminishing returns. This causes them to intensify their efforts to use what is there. Eventually the resource is consumed beyond it’s capacity to regenerate The resource is depleted and no one gets to use it.

TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

It is a Systems Thinking problem because, for the users of the Commons, there is short-term gain versus long-term pain. It forces competition rather than cooperation. To control usage of the commons, individual liberties must be curtailed. Even if the commons is not completely destroyed, its damage brings about a lower level of activity for each user. No one is responsible for the Tragedy of the Commons. People are locked into it. The collective system is at fault. We have to redesign the system. The resource comprising the commons may be nonrenewable (so there is no regeneration rate). Therefore, the resource level is constantly decreasing for the life of the Commons. Notes on the Tragedy of the Commons

Notes on the Tragedy of the Commons (continued) Since the time for the Commons to collapse (resources get used up) is much longer than the time an individual gains from using it, the Commons keeps getting used until its collapse. If someone leaves the Commons, is it rational for another to take his/her place. If the combined usage of the Commons is small relative to its carrying capacity, individuals will continue to use the commons at an increasing rate. This overloads the usage of the Commons to everyone’s detriment. Global warming is an example of a Tragedy of the Commons. The Commons is the atmosphere. We are depleting the Commons by adding toxins to the atmosphere, like methane and carbon dioxide. The solution to preventing a Tragedy of the Commons is, according to Hardin, is paradoxical: “Mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon.”

Policies to Avert--Continued

Lessons Learned from the Tragedy of the Commons You can’t solve your own problems in isolation from others. What’s good for part of the system can be bad for the whole system. Individual gain may give rise to collective pain. Everybody does better when everybody does better.

Expanded Tragedy of the Commons