Garrett Hardin, The Tragedy of the Commons

Recognition of necessity (is freedom)

Commons is justifiable in low populations With increased populations abandon the commons Infringement on personal liberties

Private property

Induces people to work by granting them ownership of all or some of the fruits of their labor People act in their own self interest Short term thinking is dysfunctional- Rachel Carson Externalized costs don't disappear even if they are ignored

problems

Land degradation Extinction of species

The Coase theorem

Laws purpose is the create property rights that are capable of being traded via market exchange Problem of free riders

What should we do with common property?

Make it private? Public but with entry rights? -wealth, auction, lottery, merit, first come first serve If we don't decide we will destroy national parks

Pollution

Putting something into the common Sewage, chemicals, radioactive, and heat waste Air pollution Advertising signs Discharging wastes is less than the costs of cleaning them address this by laws and taxes to make it cheaper to clean then the discharge The pollution problem is a consequence of population

Mutual coercion mutually agreed upon

Responsibility is created through coercion and creation of social arraignments Agree on coercion to avoid chaos of the commons The status quo is action

How to legislate temperance?

The morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is preformed It is done best through mediation of administrative law

Tragedy of the common

The world is limited and you can't just keep increasing (carrying capacity) Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all

Human nature

Want to add to tragedy to get maximum benefit for yourself externalization of social costs- pass on social costs to the commons where they are not clearly seen and can't been accounted for Environmental law wants to re internalize the costs (polluter pays)

Pathogenic effects of conscience

Will we stop behaving badly just because out conscience says too? Caught in a double bind- condemn for not being a responsible citizen, and also condemn for being shamed into standing aside while the rest of us exploit the commons