"The Tragedy of the Commons," Garrett Hardin, Science, 162(1968):1243-1248.

       The article begins with the idea that there is a class of problems which Hardin calls the "no technical solution problems," to which he assigns the "population problem". For Hardin, the problem is that population is constantly growing in a finite world, and "a finite world can support only a finite population". This is where the tragedy of the commons comes in, which he relates to an open pasture. He believes that each herdsman will seek to maximize his gain and that there is one negative and one positive outcome from his addition of another animal to the herd. The positive is that the animal will bring in more profit for the herdsman (+1) and the negative is that it will add to overgrazing. The negative, however, affects not only him but many others so therefore it is only equivalent to a fraction of -1. The decision then is easy to add another, and another, and another animal until the pasture can no longer sustain the herds. "Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all."

     He uses pollution, oceans, national parks, and overgrazing as examples of the tragedy of the commons in the world today. All of these are a consequence of population. This leads him to argue that the morality of decisions regarding the commons are "system-sensitive"; that is, morality is dependent on the situation at the time (so, killing an endangered species is no longer okay but it was before the species became endangered). Hardin calls for a limitation on breeding. According to him, in a welfare state where everyone is born with an equal right to the commons is a world in "a tragic course of action". An appeal to conscience to control breeding, however, will never work since only some will acquiesce. Instead, he argues for mutual coercion, or "definite social arrangements that will keep [something] from becoming a commons". He cites taxes as an example, since no one enjoys them, but they understand the necessity. Recognizing the necessity of something, like "abandoning the commons in breeding" is the key to finally asserting control.

     This article was written long before Creative Commons came about, and even before mass use of the internet. Yet, though times have drastically changed, scholars still site Hardin's work to argue against the commons online (and more specifically Creative Commons licenses which suddenly makes this commons legal) because the sentiment found in his article still runs deep in the minds of many today. The commons seems to many a wasteful form of property and people have argued that the easy access to works, especially things like photographs that are not easily marked with a creator, will create a sort of digital overgrazing and original work will lose its value. However, it is important to remember that Hardin wrote about a finite world. The internet has created something infinite. This distinction changes the whole argument because suddenly there are fewer restrictions. However, this article remains important to the discussion of the commons because it has shaped so much of the current debate that it cannot simply be ignored.