Freedom Is the Recognition of Necessity
Tragedy of the Commons
I have a tendency to fall asleep with the television on. I don’t do it on purpose. I simply enjoy watching the news late at night like any other weird college kid.
My mother continues to remind me that I need to end this habit. After all, I am just increasing the electric bill for her. I assume she is correct.
I had an incentive to stop leaving the television on. First, I didn't want to have her nag me. Two, I probably saved her money.
This goes the same for our water bill, gas bill, the air conditioning and many other notes that apply to usage. Since you have a stake in the payment, you wish to conserve. Better insulation, lower cost. Quicker showers, lower cost. Turn off lights, lower cost. Sounds good right? Paying for what we use is capitalism at its finest.
But that was at home, where my mother paid for these bills out of her pocket. Now that I am in college, living in a dorm, I shower longer and leave the television on all day and night. Why? Because I can. The bill is no longer pinned on me. At least not directly. I of course pay for the dorm I live in, but generally the perception is that my water usage and electricity consumption does not affect me any different than it affects my roommate or my suite mates or the entire building as a whole. If i shower longer, I pay the same amount as someone who showers less. This is because the building is public. And public things as we all know tend to be abused. Lets call this a tragedy of the commons.
“As the human population has increased, the commons has had to be abandoned in one aspect after another.” The utilitarian goal addressing the “greatest good for the greatest number” cannot satisfy these concerns. On the basis of mathematical theory, two variables cannot be maximized at the same time. On the basis of common sense, a finite resource can only support a finite population. We all wish there were an infinite amount of clean air and water for everyone, but we do not have this luxury.
In the spirit of individual will, we observe that people take care of things when they are invested in them. Take for example the cow versus the nearly extinct bison. Bison were slaughtered mercilessly. Cows are protected as a commodity and a source of income. Which one still exists in vast quantities today? It is clear then, that the existence of private property can alleviate the issues that create a tragedy of the commons. But it is not the only way.
Private property has become synonymous with our liberty as individuals. According to John Locke, private property is created through “the mixing of our labor.” “He that is nourished by the acorns he picked—has certainly appropriated them to himself.” You see an apple, you pick the apple, that is now your apple. Simple right? I wish it were. Here is the caveat. Locke reminds us that “God has given us all things richly—but how far has he given us? Enough to enjoy.” Enough to enjoy he says. Regardless of your position regarding the aspect of “God” providing the resource, I wonder this: How the hell do I know how much I need to enjoy? Undoubtedly, picking one hundred apples, knowing that you only can consume three, is far more than necessary to enjoy. That is abuse of the commons.
We cannot rely on individuals to take only what they need when the resource is common to us all. If it is common, it will not be protected. As Hardin puts it, the tragedy of the commons stems from the “depletion of a shared resource by individuals acting independently and rationally according to their own self-interest.” Yes, it serves my interest to shower longer. But it does not serve yours. That is a problem.
I use the shower example to be frank and honest. I do shower longer than I need to at times. I’m sure we are all guilty of abusing a common resource. It is hard not to unless we consciously make the effort. And most of the time, that effort is only made when it directly affects our wallets. As they say, money is the motive, indeed.
Hardin’s essay highlights further issues related to the tragedy of the commons. There are of course pollution concerns, increasing population densities, and the stagnation of legislature to correct these issues. I will focus on the population and stagnation claim.
I believe, based on what I have read, that the world will become increasingly overpopulated and will eventually reach an unsustainable quantity. According to a study done in 2011 by the Population Division of the Department of Economics and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, the population will grow to 10 billion by the year 2100. Finite resources with an exponentially growing population. That is what we are facing as a society.
How to avoid disaster and correct the situation is of course a lot harder than defining the problem. I agree with Hardin on most of his points. I believe that the notion supporting the absolute right of people to have as many kids as they wish is harmful. But I also believe that condemning people who disagree with me is not a way to fix anything.
This is where Hardin introduces the concept of mutual coercion that is mutually agreed upon. For example, taxing is a coercive device. We make people pay for parking meters so that they would not simply park their cars and never move them. As an individual we oppose the tax since the money is coming out of our pocket directly, but rationally, we see the logic. Once we see the logic, we mutually agree that this form of coercion is beneficial. Coercion, then, can be used as a device that can correct situations that address the common good. While I agree with the concept, I do have concerns. First, I question, who is creating these coercive taxes? And second, does a majority agreement on the aforementioned coercive tax make things fair, equal or efficient? I propose these questions as food for thought. I do not plan to propose solutions in that regard.
To conclude, I foresee the concerns of overpopulation in a not so distant future. I believe that we, as a society, need to be reminded that the commons are finite and we may run out of the resources we waste in the present. More people, more need. Commons will deplete if we do not act in some form. Doing nothing will not help us.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel once said that “freedom is the recognition of necessity.” I urge us to act now. After all, I have been wasting shower water for far too long.
