Guest Post by John Stossel
Happy Thanksgiving!
But beware the “tragedy of the commons.” It almost killed off the pilgrims.
Now, via Washington, D.C., it’s probably coming for us.
Tragedy of the commons is a concept from an essay by ecologist Garrett Hardin. He wrote how cattle ranchers sharing a common parcel of land soon destroy that land. That’s because each rancher has an incentive to put cattle on the common. Soon, the extra animals eat all the grass. Shared grazing space is destroyed because no rancher has an incentive to conserve.
If the ranchers put up a few fences and divide the land, each rancher has an incentive to limit grazing. That saves the grass and the cattle.
Continue reading “Thank Private Property”
