
Common Ground: A children's book about the tragedy of the commons - cardamomo
http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/common.html
======
natch
It would do a lot of good if more people were aware of the tragedy of the
commons.

Here's the key excerpt of the full controversial essay taken from
[http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_...](http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html)

...

The tragedy of the commons develops in this way. Picture a pasture open to
all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep as many cattle
as possible on the commons. 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.

As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or
implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks, "What is the utility to me of
adding one more animal to my herd?" This utility has one negative and one
positive component.

1) The positive component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since
the herdsman receives all the proceeds from the sale of the additional animal,
the positive utility is nearly +1.

2) The negative component is a function of the additional overgrazing created
by one more animal. Since, however, the effects of overgrazing are shared by
all the herdsmen, the negative utility for any particular decision-making
herdsman is only a fraction of -1.

Adding together the component partial utilities, the rational herdsman
concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another
animal to his herd. And another; and another.... But this is the conclusion
reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the
tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his
herd without limit--in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward
which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that
believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to
all.

...

------
brudgers
Related: Nobel winner Elinor Nordstrom.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom)

