The Tragedy of the Commons (concept)

The Tragedy of the Commons is a concept describing a situation where individuals, acting in their own self-interest, overuse and deplete shared resources. Imagine a pasture where multiple farmers graze their cattle. Each farmer benefits from adding more cows, but if everyone does this, the pasture becomes overgrazed and ultimately unusable. This leads to a loss for all, even though each farmer initially sought to maximize their gain. The concept highlights the need for cooperative management of shared resources to prevent ecological and economic collapse.