Free Republic

An essay that appeared in Science magazine back in the 1960's explains clearly and concisely the self-destructive path we're on in our country today. The essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons", showed how individuals, rationally pursuing their self-interest, could unintentionally destroy their own common existence. A simple problem is put forth: A common grazing field is available to a community of herders. Everyone brings his or her cows there. Because there is no clear ownership, the only incentive each herder has is to bring all of his cows to graze and consume as much as possible. With everyone doing it,...

My Thanksgiving column about how the pilgrims nearly starved practicing communal farming but thrived once they switched to private cultivation made some people angry. One commented, "Sharing of the fruits of our labor is a bad thing?" I never said that. I practice charity regularly. I believe in sharing. But when government takes our money by force and gives it to others, that's not sharing. And sharing can't be a basis for production -- you can't share what hasn't been produced. My point is that production and prosperity require property rights. Property rights associate effort with benefits. Where benefits are...

Ecologist Garrett Hardin never minced words in presenting his unvarnished view of humanity's impact on the planet. And he was no less direct in planning his death. On 14 September he and his wife committed suicide at their home in Santa Barbara, California. Hardin was 88, and his wife Jane was 81. Both were in very poor health. Hardin is best known for his 1968 article in Science, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (13 December 1968, p. 1243). In it he argued that if everyone had free access to common property, the resource would be lost to all. But Hardin...