RESOURCE TYPES
• Have talked about various types of
resources
– fund, non-renewable
– flow, renewable
– recyclable
• Linked to the concept of function. Value
from use ($ use vs. non-use)
• Goal of a state, corporation, or individual is
bound up in the use of resources
• Introduction of another way of looking at
function, therefore another way of looking
at resources
COMMON PROPERTY
RESOURCES
• These can be defined as shared resources
– air could be seen as an example. All share in
breathing but it has other uses (heating,
cooling, source of nitrogen (fertilizer) and so
on
• The sense of common property dates back
to the origins of humans. Hunting and
Gathering societies had the notion of
personal property but the “area” was the
groups interest
• The term “commons” initially referred to
livestock grazing areas, woodlots and fish
ponds
• These were collectively owned and used by
communities of peasants in medieval
England
• The Commons were not abused because
each person had a responsibility to their
neighbours
• Rights of access and use were defined by
customary laws. Social relations and
customs associated with each community
• The right to use the Commons was a
privilege that could be revoked by the
leadership of the group
WHY DOES THE SYSTEM
CHANGE AND WHAT ARE
THE IMPLICATIONS?
• The system works for many years because
villages were small, demand was lower, the
number of cattle on the commons would be
lower
–
–
–
–
–
low demand
disease
poaching
wars
BUT
1 The notion of creating surplus value from
the harvest became commonplace. Excess
can be sold and the return could come back
to the individual who has produced the
surplus.
2 The concept of private property. In Garret
Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons if each
herdsman had the opportunity to obtain
extra from grazing more cattle on the
Commons then it was best to graze as many
as possible
• The utility of adding one animal to a herd is
obvious.
– Meat, hide, etc.
• The additional grazing may lead to
overgrazing but the costs of correcting this
(new land, land improvements) are borne by
all the herdsmen
BENEFITS OUTWEIGH
COSTS
• This is a rational decision to increase the
herd
• Each member is rational
• As Hardin concluded, each herdsman is
operating in a system that ultimately
destroys the resource base
• “FREEDOM IN A COMMONS BRINGS
RUIN TO ALL”
Canadian & American Politics
• It seems self-evident to me that Republican and
Conservative environmental policy promotes the
tragedy of the commons.
• These groups, by moving to slash the
government's role in environmental protection, are
putting the decision-making back in the "invisible
hand" of the marketplace, which will always,
inevitably decide to add that additional animal to
the commons.
Modern Example - Fisheries
• The individual gains at the
expense of the whole
• Whoever gains the ‘crop’
first and takes the most
wins
• All society shares in the
impacts
Great Lakes
• The Great Lakes
contain about 18% of
the world’s fresh
water
• About 42 million
people live in the
basin
• About 20 million draw
their drinking water
from the Lakes
Our Environment - A
Canadian Perspective
• Uses
–
–
–
–
–
–
urban development
industrial
commercial
agricultural
hydroelectric
recreation
• Commercial and sport fishing and
associated tourism is worth $4.2 Billion a
year
• Report released in 1988 by the Federal
Government (not endorsed) found:
– people in the Great Lakes Basin have higher
rates of cancer, birth defects and heart
disease
– 2002 – medical drugs in drinking water
– In drinking water, agricultural soil and rain in
the area are found PCB’s, Dioxin, Mercury,
Insecticides and over 300 other toxic
substances