Garrett Hardin's The Tragedy of the Commons. W7 disc Essay

Garrett Hardin's The Tragedy of the Commons. W7 disc - Essay Example By procreation, an adult couple locks up a portion of the common resources for the sustenance of the child. This includes the air, water, food and other material necessities that the child would require for survival. But people don’t aspire to merely survive – they want to ‘enjoy’ life’s comforts. So, the process of procreation also locks up more valuable natural resources for the child. Hence, the population problem is a core issue concerning the commons. Published first in 1968, Hardin’s essay displays foresight and identifies an emerging socio-political problem. In the four decades that has elapsed since it was first written, the population of the world has nearly doubled, making the relevance and intensity of the issues raised more acute. Citing the example of the pastoral commons, Hardin correctly points out how, if each herdsman looks after only his own interests, the common meadows will soon get ruined due to over grazing. In a world where resources are infinite, or its consumption is negligible (as when the population is too low), such unfettered consumption of resources makes logical sense for the individual and also the society. In this scenario, not only do the individual and his immediate community prosper, but the species is also propagated, constituting a common good. But the equation changes quickly, once resources become scarce, whereby the consumers feel the ‘finite’ nature of what they use. In thi s scenario, an individual looking after himself and his immediate community is no longer practically viable or morally proper. It is easy to transpose this argument concerning the common pastures to the population question. By analogy and deduction, it becomes quite clear that individuals/parents can no longer be afforded the right to procreate for their own interests. The idea of receiving government sanctions