The Tragedy of the Commons PDF

The Tragedy of the Commons Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in the commons brings ruin to all (William Forster Lloyd). The individual benefits as an individual from his ability t...

The Tragedy of the Commons Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in the commons brings ruin to all (William Forster Lloyd). The individual benefits as an individual from his ability to deny the truth even though society as a whole of which he is a part, suffers. Freedom of commons - individualistic By any reasonable standards, the most rapidly growing populations on earth today are (in general) the most miserable. The tragedy of the commons as a food basket is averted by private property... our particular concept of private property, which deters us from exhausting the positive resources of the earth, favors pollution. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. It follows that any choice and decision with regard to the size of the family itself, and cannot be made by anyone else. The most important aspect of necessity that we must now recognize, is the necessity of abandoning the commons in breeding... it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of abandoning the freedom to breed. Thesis - unless the number of individuals in a group is quite small, or unless there is coercion or some other special device to make individuals act in their common interest, rational, self-interested individuals will not act to achieve their common or group interests (Zero contribution thesis). Anti-Thesis - extensive fieldwork has by now established that individuals in all walks of life and all parts of the world voluntarily organize themselves so as to gain the benefits of trade, to provide mutual protection against risk, and to create and enforce rules that protect natural resources. In a world of strong external monitoring and sanctioning, cooperation is enforced without any need for internal norms to develop. In a world of no external rules or monitoring, norms can evolve to support cooperation. A frequent finding is that when the users of a common-pool resource organize themselves to devise and enforce some of their own basic rules, they tend to manage local resources more sustainably than when rules are externally imposed on them. Self-organized regimes rely more on what Margaret Levi (1998) calls "quasi-voluntary" cooperation than either strictly voluntary or coerced cooperation. If external government officials presume that only they can make authoritative rules, then it is difficult for local users to sustain a self-organized regime (Johnson and Libecap 1982). Threats - Efforts by national government to impose a single set of rules on all governance units in a region - Rapid changes in technology and in reliance on monetary transactions - Transmission failures from one generation to the next of the operational principles of self-organized governance = International aid that does not take account of indigenous knowledge and institutions - Growth of corruption and other forms of opportunistic behavior - A lack of large-scale institutional arrangements that provide fair and low-cost resolution mechanisms for conflicts that arise among local regimes Transnational Civil Society - It is to be distinguished from classic civil society in having transnational dimensions. It brings together groups from many different nation-states, often acting through non-governmental organizations, who find common cause in promoting principles of a global nature. - Transnational NGOs have opened up an expanded arena for dissent as citizens of modernizing states have lost confidence in national law-making and law-keeping organizations, and have looked to the global networks of association and community provided by human-rights and church-based activities. CHIAPAS, MEXICO The Mexican government used the threat of force first to fragment civil society, and then to reconstruct it in a militarized form so as to undermine support for the Zapatistas and build support for federal troops. (1) The army sought to habituate people to the ubiquitous presence of the soldiers; (2) The military also sought to undermine people's ability to manage their own lives to make them dependent on the military; (3) A concerted effort by the military to escalate violence in the region by arming pro-government paramilitary groups. INDIGENOUS GROUPS Indigenous groups have been especially important to the growth of the civil-society movement, and have been singled out as targets of military and paramilitary repression. "We came together in 1992 because we are a multitude and we want to build our house like a honeycomb where we all work collectively and we will enjoy the same thing, producing honey for everyone. So, we are like the bees in one hive.” INDIGENOUS WOMEN Women's assertion of autonomy is crucial for the attainment of indigenous autonomy. "Autonomy for us women imply the right to be autonomous... It also implies facing the fear that we have in order to dare to take decisions and to participate, to seek economic independence, to have independence in the family, to continue informing ourselves because understanding gives us autonomy. We are educated to serve in house and community]... We do not work for wages, and we [are not paid] for cultivation... With the bad treatment we receive, we see rage and suffering as something normal. We seek democratic and harmonious relations with equality and without discrimination and the sharing of household responsibilities. The colonial dispossession "in the name of God" was based and reinforced by the Vatican's 1452 Papal Bull, authorizing European monarchs to "invade, vanquish, subdue and to take away all their possessions and property" of pagans and non-Christians. In post-colonial Philippine governments, they define all ancestral lands as "public domain." Indigenous peoples have a natural world outlook integrated with the environment. Indigenous peoples have a feeling of oneness with the land. Land is the source of life, land is life. Since it is on land that one's ancestors are buried, they believe that the earth is man's sacred relative, and a very special relationship based on nurturing, caring, and sharing exists. "You ask us if we own the land... Such arrogance of owning the land when you shall be owned by it. How can you own that which will outlive you. raising awareness of their rights, development paths, community participatory mapping and resource inventories, traditional knowledge systems, waging campaigns COMMUNITIES Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development KATRIBU Cordillera People's Alliance Federation of Tribes in Palawan Unity of Mindoro Against Foreign Mining National Union of People's Lawyers, Union AMIHAN Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines In Palawan, indigenous peoples have declared a "Karaban" (a bamboo quiver that holds darts for a blowpipe) against mining. It is a symbolic form of militant action that they are willing to take to stop the intrusion of mining companies on their traditional territories. The Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) is proposing to the Permanent International People's Tribunal to put global mining companies on trial for the displacement of indigenous peoples and environmental destruction. This People's Mining Bill would strictly regulate large-scale mining and ban it from indigenous people's territory (ancestral lands). The government's profit-driven development policy assures that extractive industries are given more priority in indigenous people's territories than the indigenous people's rights and welfare, resulting in continuing forced eviction from ancestral lands, loss of livelihood, disintegration of communal ties, and militarization. Since mining and militarization go hand in hand, these grassroots communities must also defend themselves against violent attacks on their lives, families, and communities.