Dr. Garrett Hardin: Overpopulation, Survival and Morality

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Of course, during periods of low population—such as in America's pioneer days—the system of the Commons works fine. But, as the number of people in any given area increases, this particular politico-economic system becomes more and more dangerous ... and will ultimately result in the destruction of the resources in question. So, in a more populous world, we must go to privatism, or socialism, or a mixture of the two ... because it is inviting disaster to allow a Commons to exist under heavily crowded conditions.

PLOWBOY: But can't we assume that most men and women have enough social responsibility to avoid overexploiting the shared resources?

HARDIN: Yes, we can probably predict that the majority would not knowingly take too great a share from the Com mons, but the assumption does nothing to alter the course of events. You see, the tragedy of the Commons comes about because the end result is dictated by what I call the "overwhelming minority". In other words, if just one or two people are scoundrels, those individuals will do their best to bleed the jointly owned resource dry. Then, as these greedy men or women become richer and richer, others will be forced to follow their lead.

That's all the freedom we have ... to make the best possible use of each day's sunshine. We've cheated considerably by using ... oil coal, and gas...those resources will soon come to an end...

We cannot, you see, rely on voluntary responsibility to control the distribution of a resource, because this always gives a selective advantage to people who elect not to be responsible!

PLOWBOY: It's difficult to imagine a government being run on a Commons basis in the twentieth century. Can you give me some examples of this type of distribution system mat are still in existence?

HARDIN: Well, there are a number of Commons around, but they're "silent" ... that is, we don't always recognize them for what they are. For example, the ocean fisheries are still distributed on a Commons basis. Any person—or nation—can take as many fish from the noncoastal seas as he or she wants ... and there are already too many groups grabbing oversized shares of that jointly owned resource. We're beginning to see that the "open seas" system won't work, that—without any legislation to control them—the ocean fisheries will be ruined There are attempts being made to man age, through international agreements and so fo rth, the ocean Commons ... it is to be hoped that a solution will be found in time.

PLOWBOY: You've also used the Commons metaphor to discuss world pollution problems, Can you explain how this system applies to the destruction of our environment?

HARDIN: Certainly, The problems of pollution represent almost a reversal of the traditional Commons ... because this situation is aggravated when people put things into the shared resources. The air is, of course, a Commons. We can't get away from that ... there's no way to make our atmosphere private property. So, as long as it's less expensive for a manufacturer to pour smoke into the air than it is for that person to install antipollution devices, then he or she will pollute ... unless an enforced law prohibits that action.

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