The Tragedy of the Commons (garrett hardin)

The Tragedy of the Commons, by Garrett Hardin, describes how individuals sharing a common resource—like pastureland—tend to act in their own self-interest, leading to overuse and depletion of that resource. Since each person benefits individually from using more, but the costs are shared collectively, everyone is incentivized to exploit it. Over time, this leads to resource degradation, harming all users. It illustrates the challenge of managing shared resources sustainably, emphasizing the need for collective regulation or cooperation to prevent inevitable depletion.