Comments on: The Tragedy of the Commons http://krypted.com/business/the-tragedy-of-the-commons/ Notes from the field Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:15:02 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: meistre http://krypted.com/business/the-tragedy-of-the-commons/comment-page-1/#comment-31 meistre Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:27:12 +0000 http://krypted.com/?p=3427#comment-31 A very thought provoking post. Though I've been a follower of Garrett Hardin for decades, I've never thought to apply his work to the American economic structure. A very creative idea. My first reaction to your post would be to attach income, rather than credit, metaphorically to the common. As some cattle owners are able to increasingly hoard more and more of the commons, each cow has accumulates more pasture than he can possibly eat while the cattle belonging to the poorer farmers have increasingly smaller fields of grass to sustain them. When 1% of the village's cows are grazing on 90% of the common grass it illustrates the income inequality such as it exists in today's America. But as you pointed out, Hardin's metaphor hardly applies since ownership eliminates the possibility of a shared commons. Let's not forget that the American economic system hasn't been an Adam Smith type of laissez faire capitalism almost from the beginning. It's better described as a social capitalism (unfortunately, the rich seem to enjoy the capitalistic gains while socializing the costs of their risk onto the rest of us). Smith's "invisible hand" would never have allowed for things like import tarifs, antitrust laws, or social entitlements. I can only assume Smith never imagined that greed could kill his theoretically perfect system much the way it does socialism. Most amazing to me is the idea that a seemingly intelligent and rational society could repeat such a tragic mistake - as if the history of the Great Depression was only a fable. Which brings us to the current group of "big pansies" running our government. I'm convinced that there will never be any hope of a true democracy in this country as long as our elected representatives are dependent upon huge financial institutions to stay in office. Until elections are publicly financed and lobbyists are stripped of their hold over Congress, "We the People" will never truly be represented unless we are within the guidelines set by the powerful, top 1%. I mean, c'mon, a bailout for Wall Street and the Banking system? How utterly absurd! They emptied the Reserve long ago, now it's time to shake down what's left of the global economy. I guess it's only logical that as long as we allow it, the rich and powerful will exploit the government, taxpayers and the poor. Why not? A very thought provoking post. Though I’ve been a follower of Garrett Hardin for decades, I’ve never thought to apply his work to the American economic structure. A very creative idea. My first reaction to your post would be to attach income, rather than credit, metaphorically to the common. As some cattle owners are able to increasingly hoard more and more of the commons, each cow has accumulates more pasture than he can possibly eat while the cattle belonging to the poorer farmers have increasingly smaller fields of grass to sustain them. When 1% of the village’s cows are grazing on 90% of the common grass it illustrates the income inequality such as it exists in today’s America. But as you pointed out, Hardin’s metaphor hardly applies since ownership eliminates the possibility of a shared commons.

Let’s not forget that the American economic system hasn’t been an Adam Smith type of laissez faire capitalism almost from the beginning. It’s better described as a social capitalism (unfortunately, the rich seem to enjoy the capitalistic gains while socializing the costs of their risk onto the rest of us). Smith’s “invisible hand” would never have allowed for things like import tarifs, antitrust laws, or social entitlements. I can only assume Smith never imagined that greed could kill his theoretically perfect system much the way it does socialism. Most amazing to me is the idea that a seemingly intelligent and rational society could repeat such a tragic mistake – as if the history of the Great Depression was only a fable.

Which brings us to the current group of “big pansies” running our government. I’m convinced that there will never be any hope of a true democracy in this country as long as our elected representatives are dependent upon huge financial institutions to stay in office. Until elections are publicly financed and lobbyists are stripped of their hold over Congress, “We the People” will never truly be represented unless we are within the guidelines set by the powerful, top 1%. I mean, c’mon, a bailout for Wall Street and the Banking system? How utterly absurd! They emptied the Reserve long ago, now it’s time to shake down what’s left of the global economy. I guess it’s only logical that as long as we allow it, the rich and powerful will exploit the government, taxpayers and the poor. Why not?

]]> By: nathantoups.pip.verisignlabs.com/ http://krypted.com/business/the-tragedy-of-the-commons/comment-page-1/#comment-30 nathantoups.pip.verisignlabs.com/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:03:49 +0000 http://krypted.com/?p=3427#comment-30 Well put. I think part of the problem is that there is no real reward system for policy makers to create a framework that is not actively managed. We reward those who look busy trying to fix problems, but never address the systemic issues. If only we would get rid of the central bank entirely and use an independent standard for the value of currency. One can dream. Well put. I think part of the problem is that there is no real reward system for policy makers to create a framework that is not actively managed. We reward those who look busy trying to fix problems, but never address the systemic issues.

If only we would get rid of the central bank entirely and use an independent standard for the value of currency. One can dream.

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