coercive laws or taxing devices that make it cheaper for the polluter
to treat his pollutants than to discharge them untreated. We have
not progressed as far with the solution of this problem as we have
with the first. Indeed, our particular concept of private property,
which deters us from exhausting the positive resources of the earth,
favors pollution. The owner of a factory on the bank of a stream
whose property extends to the middle of the stream often has
difficulty seeing why it is not his natural right to muddy the waters
flowing past his door. The law, always behind the times, requires
elaborate stitching and fitting to adapt it to this newly perceived
aspect of the commons.'
Reflection and Action 17.01
Bring out the argument of Garrett Hardin on unsustainability of 'commons'
under the conditions of rapid population growth.
At a very basic level given that air and water are fluid, all human beings can
be expected to suffer from pollution, some more and some less depending on
one's life situation-time and place of residence, wealth and means to either
deal with problems that arise from pollution. Similarly loss of forest cover,
extinction of several plant and animal species is likely to affect different
Answers
Answer:
Such an arrangement may work reasonably satisfactorily for centuries because tribal wars, poaching, and disease keep the numbers of both man and beast well below the carrying capacity of the land. Finally, however, comes the day of reckoning, that is, the day when the long-desired goal of social stability becomes a reality. At this point, the inherent logic of the commons remorselessly generates tragedy.
As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks. "What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?" This utility has one negative and one positive component.
1) The positive component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since the herdsman receives all the proceeds from the sale of the additional animal, the positive utility is nearly +1.
2) The negative component is a function of the additional overgrazing, created by one more animal. Since, however, the effects of overgrazing are shared by all the herdsmen