Social

Tragedy of Commons

Posted on January 30, 2006. Filed under: Social |

Having a commons (publicly-owned property) sounds like a great idea, so why do stories about the commons – the ocean, rivers, and air – so often turn tragic? Why are so many species facing extinction? Why are so many resources being depleted?

The American buffalo, Asian tigers were hunted nearly to extinction. Why? No one owned them, so hunters had an incentive to kill as many as they could. Ranchers and farmers, on the other hand, own cattle. When was the last time you heard about the threat to cattle?

(more…)