Tphady Of The Commons : The Tragedy Of The Commons

Technology destroys the relationship between humans and nature. Humans have an instinctive relationship with nature, depending on it for food, oxygen, and other resources. Man’s relationship with nature reinforces his humanity. Humanity is the emotions, qualities, morals, and characteristics that make a being human. The use of technology has disconnected man from nature. When humans are detached from nature, they lose their humanity. This is seen in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Tractors are used to overturn the land and destroy the houses of Oklahoma farmers. In desperate need of money, inhabitants of the land betray their own and join the inhumane destruction. When men use the tractors, they sacrifice their relationship with the land and their humanity. In The Grapes of Wrath, the tractors mechanize their operators and sever their natural relationship with the land, which means that technology deprives its user of their humanity.

Garrett Hardin published in Psychology Today in September 1974. This passage is an excerpt from his popular paper “The Tragedy of the Commons” as a warning that overpopulation was dangerous due to how limited Earth’s resources are. This theory is reflected in Hardin’s thesis that the rich should do nothing to help the people of poor nations and turn away those trying to come in. Hardin used the imagery of a lifeboat almost filled in a sea full of drowning people to pose and answer a single question, “what should the lifeboat passengers do?” (290). Hardin's answer was to defend the boat against all trying to board. If anyone felt guilty about this course of action they should feel free to swap places with a drowning man and give them their

The article “Down go the dams” by Jane C.Marks aim to provide an informative view on the current pending issue on Dams. The article starts out my mentioning the important nature of dams in our society. For example, Jane C.Marks states that today about 800,000 dams operate worldwide as well as the fact that most were built in the past century, primarily after World War II. Furthermore, the author lays down informative facts about dams such as the fact that dams control flooding and their reservoirs provide a reliable supply of water for irrigation, drinking and recreation which are all very important to society. In an economic standpoint, although it is very high maintenance dams provide jobs for people. The

Dams represent a tame and modernized world. They hold back once wild and raging rivers, keeping them calm and as placid as a lake. All the inhabitants in the newly dammed lake are also tamed just like the people of Calamus and all over Oregon. Wade really helps to show this point after a conversation with Jesse. He thinks,“I couldn’t shake the idea of the millpond and those landlocked salmon we used to see there. If people were salmon, they’d be like those stunted lost relatives of Old Man Chinook” (194). This shows that the people of Calamus are like landlocked salmon, trapped behind a taming dam. The civilized people are just “shadows” of the old world people. Just as landlocked salmon are just shadows of the wild salmon they used to be. This idea is expanded by Jesse’s efforts to blow up the dam. Jesse believes that the dam has tamed the landlocked salmon. So he feels obligated to help them become wild once more. The modernized world has had the same effect on the Native Americans as it did on the landlocked salmon. They have become stunted in their souls. Lawrence, the best Native American fisherman around, who doesn't talk anymore because his voice has been stunted by modern society. Just like the salmon are physically stunted by the dam the native americans are stunted by

The relationship between people and their environment in A Land Remembered is one where the profit from land exploitation is naturally corrupting and exponentially increases the exploiters lust for larger profit, leading to the exploiter planning larger scale endeavors in the future. The author, Patrick D. Smith (1984), suggests the idea that communities naturally grow in a hedonic cycle to crave more resources to fuel loftier endeavors that require even more resources from the environment, an idea that is also discussed by Aldo Leopold in the Land Ethic as wholly negative, and that is also part of my world view that is rather more optimistic.

Since the dawn of mankind, clusters of innovations throughout history have allowed for societal progression at an explosive rate. While primarily fostering a centrifugal system of advancements; humans’ interests in expansion is spiraling out of control. Throughout history elements of collapse can be traced through civilizations and natural resources. Wright’s argument posits humans have hyperextended their utilization of resources at a rate that cannot be replenished, therein by setting up the world for the largest ecological collapse in history (Wright, 2004, pg. 130-131). Due to the cyclical process of past collapse and reformation humans have an advantage to rectify our current consumption rates ultimately avoiding a fate similar to past societies (Wright, 2004, pg. 131). As such Wright’s argument should frame larger discussions of responsible citizenship.

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyze Katrine Barber's book, "Death of Celilo Falls". In this book, Barber successfully seeks to tell the story of a momentous event in the history of the West, the building of the Dalles Dam in 1957. Celilo Falls was part of a nine-mile area of the Long Narrows on the Columbia River. Despite the fact that the Celilo Village still survives to this day in the state of Oregon (it is the state's oldest continuously inhabited town), the assembly of The Dalles Dam in 1957 changed the way of life for the surrounding areas forever. Barber tells this story very well, and as it is the first book-length account of the inundation of Celilo Falls, it is a very valuable and insightful look at an influential

The film is not only able to show the way humanity has lost contact with nature but also how much they appreciate and want it back in their society.

Ishmael is a wonderful tale about a boy, a gorilla, and an environmental hero. The gorilla is Ishmael and he is that environmental hero. The boy wanted to save the world and Ishmael, the teacher, wanted to help him do so. The gorilla has not actually talk to the boy, only share thoughts with him through his mind. The whole book is about Ishmael sharing stories with the boy about the environment. The biggest themes in the book Ishmael are the desire to save the word, leavers and takers and humans are apart from nature.

One of this week’s readings was Garret Hardin’s essay The Tragedy of the Commons published December 13, 1968, in Science. Hardin was an American ecologist and philosopher born in Dallas, Tx in 1915. In 1936 Hardin received a degree in Zoology from the University of Chicago is 1936, in 1941 he earned his Ph.D. from Stanford in Microbiology and, served as an Ecology professor at the University of Santa Barbara from 1963-1978. Both he and his wife of 62 years, took their own lives at their home in Santa Barbara in 2003. Before his death, Hardin became known for several things but mostly, his stance on overpopulation, which is the topic of his essay from this week. Additionally, he wrote a number of books and different essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from abortion, eugenics, and sterilization to immigration, conservation, and

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss depicts a world ravaged by deforestation and suffering from other environmental crises. In the town of Thneedville, an aspiring capitalist begins to sell his new product and as a result of booming business, the cornerstone of his business pays the price. The trees, the only natural resource used in production, are harvested to the point of extinction. The lack of trees leads to soil erosion, air pollution, and species extinction. While this is a children’s tale and Dr. Seuss’s illustration may be quite extreme, it is a reality for future generations of our planet. Human involvement in ecosystems by clearing land for urban development, logging, and agriculture have all exacerbated the rate of decline in the region’s natural systems. The deforestation of rainforests for the cultivation of palm oil is causing the possible extinction of orangutans and exacerbating air quality issues in Indonesia.

The tragedy of the commons and the problem of collective action are two key concepts in the world of political science. They act under the assumption that man is a rational being who will act in his own self interest. Humanity id broadly diverse meaning that each individual has their own ideas as to how society should run and how people should live.(heywood) This inevitably results in disagreement and this is where politics steps in. Aristotle described politics as the ‘master science’, ‘the activity through which human beings attempt to improve their lives and create the Good Society.’ Through the tragedy of the commons and the problem of collective action we can see how politics is essentially the ‘search for conflict resolution’

Few decades ago, clean water was “commons” (Hardin, 1968) to us. It was a natural resource shared by everyone and not owned by anyone. This “commons” was taken for granted to the extent that people exploit clean water without considering its finiteness. Resorts and factories dumped wastewater and ruined nearby rivers and oceans. People carelessly littered garbage and substituted the dirty water with diminishing clean water. They definitely benefited in terms of financial cost and comfort from their negligence. However, those individual interests ended up bringing severe water pollution, attacking our collective interest of public health and well-being. In this vein, water pollution is undeniably the “Tragedy of the Commons” (Hardin, 1968). Following these dire circumstances, water purification techniques and systems have been further developed and become widespread. Yet, the technical measurements have not quite fundamentally solved the problem. What is needed at this point is people’s will and practical action to improve the environment. However, merely hoping and encouraging people to do so are not enough. In order to have a steady support from people, we need a practical device for a “mutual coercion” (Hardin, 1968) to earn consent to coercion necessary to amend the situation. In this paper, I am going to address the technical and individual effort for water pollution and its limitation, and suggest a way to complement this limitation through a device on an institutional

Summarize, in YOUR own words (do NOT copy-n-paste from the book or article) what the “Tragedy of the Commons” means.