Hardin’s essay "The Tragedy of the Commons"

Hardin’s essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" explains how shared resources, like pastures or fisheries, tend to be overused when everyone acts in their self-interest. Since no one owns these resources individually, individuals have an incentive to maximize their use, leading to depletion or degradation. This overuse harms the entire community, as the resource becomes exhausted. Hardin argues that without regulation or shared management, common resources are vulnerable to overuse, highlighting the need for collective solutions or rules to prevent their destruction for future generations.