Discussion Forum 2

1. After reading the article about a current day “Tragedy of the Commons”: The Gulf Oil Spill,
is privatization of our oceans justifiable? Why or why not? What are some ways we can
privatize large shared resources such as air and water?

Although tragedy of the commons is a very serious issue and involves all species in that ecosystem,
as well as has an impact economically by way of food supply, I do not believe privatization of oceans is
justifiable or even plausible. It seems to be more appropriate and effective to develop technical solutions
as a body of civilization in order to combat these Tragedy of the Commons. Since in any society there is
all types of people and ideas to deal with.

It is not plausible to privatize the ocean as it’s not plausible to privatize the air we breathe. The
reason being how can you give ownership of this great things to individual parties it seems to
unfathomable to obtain. A good alternative is technical solutions although Hardin said we need to work
on our moral compass with regards to them. From these technical solutions is to make clean water and
tax perpetrators of offences to the wellbeing of the common.
Mutual coercion seems to be a very effective strategy as it puts the pressure on all parties to
adhere to the best interests of all parties rather than then the careless and strong using their might and
power to do as they see fit seeking immediate gains to further their income while damaging the long term
stability of income and benefit for all. Hardin was a big believer in this solution as he felt privatization for
air and water quite hard, he tragedy of the commons as a food basket is averted by private prop-
erty, or something formally like it. But the air and waters surrounding us can-not readily be
fenced, and so the trag-edy of the commons as a cesspool mustbe prevented by different
means, by co-
ercive laws or taxing devices that makeit cheaper for the polluter to treat hispollutants than to
discharge them un-treated.

Hardin believed we as a society need a bit more morality in order for the technical solutions to
really take an effective measure. Without doubt if society does not enhance in morality as a whole or sum
of its parts it would be very hard to expect a good outcome and would see a never ending flow of a,
Tragedy of a Commons, until the the harm outweighs the benefits.

s. Von Hoerner, General Limits of Space Travel, Science 137: 18 (1962).