Analysis of The Tragedy of The Commons as a "Tragedy" Or an Opportunity

The tragedy of the commons addressed by Garrett Hardin in 1968, was explained through the notion of the human condition in which individuals tend to overconsume on common limited resources for their overall maximum gain which results into unsustainability and the destruction of the commonly consumed resource (Hardin 1968; Rankin et al., 2007). Hardin (1968) has shown that this concept has been seen to be reoccurring consistently in differential circumstances both in time and space, thereby the aim for this review is to further demonstrate the consistency of this concept from the time it was established to how it has adapted to current affairs but as well as to highlight the overextension in which this concept is used.

The overuse of the commons resulting into a tragedy

After reviewing papers, it was found that there are many examples pertaining to this topic. One example used to credit this concept was seen in England pastures where increasing of herds by communal farmers resulted in degradation of the land during the 19th century (Hardin 1968; Crowe 1969). This concept can also be extended to a notion reviewed in Buchak (2016), where FOMO (the fear of missing out), involves the investment in projects that are not sufficiently researched and thereby lose money when it is unprofitable believing that they can’t miss opportunities, this is a clear example of overinvesting in inopportune ventures like what was coined by Hardin.

The overuse of the commons resulting into an opportunity

The expansion of resources doesn’t necessarily result in the maximization of human exploitation thereby resulting into a tragedy, this was studied by Neves-Graça (2004), which found that whale hunters in Lajes do Pico (Azores, Portugal), did not increase due to the increase of whales but only resulted in the increase in competition between the existing hunters. It also was investigated in a paper by Rankin et al., (2007) through observing evolutionary biology, that when a “tragedy” should be occurring within a population that exploits from a common resource, it promotes competition as well as individualism which favours the population, examples of this is plants competition for sunlight resulting in their various heights to promote their survival. A paper done by Hawkshaw (2012) found that this concept is constantly being inappropriately used because of the impact it inflicts on the audience, an example used was papers that highlight the overexploitation of fisheries in open oceans which usually focus on first world countries the paper highlighted how this contradicts the point established by Hardin which focused on common resources available in a local basis.

Possible solutions for appending tragedy

De Young and Kaplan (1988) stated that if solutions were established to prevent a tragedy these solutions need to be beneficial for both humans in which their choice to consume should be considered and the resources in which they aren’t limited to the present. Feeny et al., (1990) addressed the possible solutions Hardin recommended and found that through the implementation of rules upon common property had allowed for the effective sustainability of the common thereby forming a revised theory including the ability of people to use a more sustainable management strategy.

Conclusion

From this review it was found that the concept addressed by Hardin was constantly being played out in terms of human influence during his time, but currently through rules and regulations humans have established management strategies to prevent resource depletion. By looking at his theory in terms of biology it found to not be effective this gives me further proof that his theory is too simplified to be employed on the complexities of the current world.