There was an economic-ecologic concept posed back in the 1960's -- the "Tragedy of the Commons" -- that for a while provided the context and the framing -- that made it seem the worst of our environmental problems, could be adequately managed, and in some cases even solved. The basic idea goes like this: Free Public Resources tend to be over-used, because there is "little private/personal incentive" not to.
Here is a youtube that explains the TOTC idea, from the National Science Foundation:
Tragedy of the Commons Part 1 - Chalk Talk
video link
Here is a picture that captures "Tragedy of the Commons" — one which is becoming all-too common in so many Public Parks these days:
.....
Here's is an analysis of Garrett Hardin's novel idea, which attempted to capture the constant struggle between the forces of the Public good vs Private gain ...
[Ecologist Garrett] Hardin’s parable involves a pasture "open to all." He asks us to imagine the grazing of animals on a common ground. Individuals are motivated to add to their flocks to increase personal wealth. Yet, every animal added to the total degrades the commons a small amount. Although the degradation for each additional animal is small relative to the gain in wealth for the owner, if all owners follow this pattern the commons will ultimately be destroyed. And, assuming rational actors, each owner ads to their flock:
Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit -- in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. (Hardin, 1968)
Despite its initial reception as revolutionary, Hardin’s tragedy was not, in fact, a new discovery: its intellectual roots trace back to Aristotle who noted that "what is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it" [...] Hardin's useful insight was to recognize that this concept applies in its broader sense to a great many modern environmental problems (e.g., overgrazing on federal lands, acid precipitation, ocean dumping, atmospheric carbon dioxide discharges, draw down of fossil aquifers, firewood crises in less developed countries, over-fishing, over-population). Simply stated, this is a serious social dilemma -- an instance where individual rational behavior (i.e., acting to maximize personal short-term gain) can cause long-range harm to the environment, others and ultimately oneself.
by Raymond De Young, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan
Investopedia gives a stark utilitarian definition of the "Tragedy Of The Commons", getting at some of its roots and its consequences ...
The tragedy of the commons occurs when individuals neglect the well-being of society (or the group) in the pursuit of personal gain. For example, if neighboring farmers increase the number of their own sheep living on a common block of land, eventually the land will become depleted and not be able to support the sheep, which is detrimental to all.
These tragic effects of over-use and over-harvest, have even caused a "micro-scale" extinction -- all because a band of people had nothing to tell them: when to stop cutting down ALL their trees ...
Around 1400 the Easter Island palm became extinct due to overharvesting. [...]
With the loss of their forest, the quality of life for Islanders plummeted. Streams and drinking water supplies dried up. Crop yields declined as wind, rain, and sunlight eroded topsoils. Fires became a luxury since no wood could be found on the island, and grasses had to be used for fuel. No longer could rope by manufactured to move the stone statues and they were abandoned. The Easter Islanders began to starve, lacking their access to porpoise meat and having depleted the island of birds. As life worsened, the orderly society disappeared and chaos and disarray prevailed. Survivors formed bands and bitter fighting erupted. By the arrival of Europeans in 1722, there was almost no sign of the great civilization that once ruled the island other than the legacy of the strange statues. However, soon these too fell victim to the bands who desecrated the statues of rivals.
— Consequences of Deforestation on Easter Island
Of course their stone-work stands as a monument, that they once were, indeed here ...
Here are few modern day examples of the "Tragedy of the Commons" -- that shows how the me-first concept plays out on a more global level.
Ten Real-Life Examples of the Tragedy of the Commons by Alecia M. Spooner from Environmental Science For Dummies
Ocean garbage gyres
The ocean is an excellent example of a shared resource that can easily be abused and degraded because it’s shared by many different nations. No single authority has the power to pass laws that protect the entire ocean. Instead, each nation manages and protects the ocean resources along its coastlines, leaving the shared common space beyond any particular jurisdiction vulnerable to pollution. [...]
Earth’s atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere is another resource that everyone on the planet uses and abuses. Air pollution and greenhouse gases from various industries and transportation increasingly damage this valuable, shared resource.
As an example of a tragedy of the commons, the atmosphere offers some hope for a solution: More than once, international agreements have recognized the importance of taking care of the atmosphere. [...]
Traffic congestion
Public roads are an excellent example of common property shared by many people. Each of these people has his or her own interest in mind — typically, how to get to work as quickly and easily as possible. But when everyone decides that public roads are the best way to meet traveling needs, the roads jam up and slow down overall traffic movement, filling the air with pollutants from idling cars. [...]
.....
No doubt, you can think of other examples of "public" resources that 'everyone uses' -- but too few of us are concerned about 'preventing their over-use':
Pot-holed roads, crumbling bridges, under-funded schools, are a just a few such resources -- that tragically and commonly fall in dis-repair from over-use and being under-maintained.
Such ‘Common Good’ resources are simply just taken for granted … unwisely so.
.....
Classically, there have been at least 2 economic solutions, to this all to the "Tragedy of the Commons" problem:
1) Government Regulations
2) Privatization
Wikipedia explains those 'balance restoring' solutions like so ...
Modern solutions
Articulating solutions to the tragedy of the commons is one of the main problems of political philosophy. In absence of enlightened self-interest, some form of authority or federation is needed to solve the collective action problem. In a typical example, governmental regulations can limit the amount of a common good that is available for use by any individual. Permit systems for extractive economic activities including mining, fishing, hunting, livestock raising and timber extraction are examples of this approach. Similarly, limits to pollution are examples of governmental intervention on behalf of the commons. Alternatively, resource users themselves can cooperate to conserve the resource in the name of mutual benefit. Another solution for some resources is to convert common good into private property, giving the new owner an incentive to enforce its sustainability. [...]
Libertarians and classical liberals cite the tragedy of the commons as an example of what happens when Lockean property rights to homestead resources are prohibited by a government.[34] They argue that the solution to the tragedy of the commons is to allow individuals to take over the property rights of a resource, that is, privatizing it.[35]
.....
Here is a critique of the Privatization solution -- which in summary says it is impractical, if not impossible to impose "privatization regimes involving land, oceans, and wildlife" which would accommodate and compensate the "dynamics of ecological degradation":
The Tragedy of the Commons and the Myth of a Private Property Solution by Amy Sinden, James E. Beasley School of Law, Temple University
…..
I would add too, by way of critique, that Privatizing a Public Resource while it may restrain free-for-all over-use -- it also simultaneously causes that Resource to cease to be Public.
Which in some cases of for instance, once-Public Lands ceded to Private Interests, can end up leading their own "tragic" results -- depending on the short-run motives of the New Management:
Old growth trees for example, have "value" that ranges far and wide, depending on the beholder. And upon the current Land-holder.
.....
Here is Part II that explores the some of the solutions for "Tragedy of the Commons", once again from the National Science Foundation. It’s short and well worth watching, in my opinion:
Tragedy of the Commons Part 2 -- Chalk Talk
video link
.....
No one owns the Planet. It is a resource which we must commonly share, and care for, and act as guardians over.
Afterall it is the rare corporation or billionaire who will do so — because such acts of conservation, go against every by-law of their profit-seeking nature.
.....
If we don’t Protect the Commons … Who will?