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Doesn't the tragedy of the commons also apply to the free market? (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 week ago by Awoo@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net

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Ignore whether or not we actually agree with the tragedy of the commons for a moment.

If free land anyone is allowed to use is inevitably going to result in individuals acting in their own self interest depleting the resources of the fields and ultimately bringing about collective ruin.... Does that not apply to like... All of capitalism? On the planet?

The capitalists are incentivised to act in their individual interests, and they will do so to the ultimate collective ruin of the entire planet.

That is the tragedy of the commons expanded to an international scale, and if one believes in the tragedy of the commons then one must also believe in the other.

The commons must be centrally controlled and managed in the collective interest.

The market must be centrally controlled and managed in the collective interest.

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[–] WokePalpatine@hexbear.net 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The Tragedy of the commons isn't arguing about maximizing profit. It's an argument for the establishment of private property laws to prevent "free riders" from spoiling the commons from overuse, which they think is somehow exclusive to how collective societies work.

Edit: The problem they face is that individuals don't suddenly have perfect willpower and knowledge to conserve resources just because they own something and the measuring of resource use and enforcement of rationing sometimes costs more resources than the resources being depleted which creates even more inefficiencies (policing buses to enforce toll payment rather than taxation funding buses, etc.).