[Cohort39] tragedy of the commons (political and historical origins)

[Joshua R. Goldstein]

Dear 275ers,

You may be interested in two pieces that I came upon relating to the 50th anniversary of Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons paper.

The first is an item from the Southern Law Poverty Center, discussing Hardin’s “nativist agenda”. 
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/garrett-hardin <https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/garrett-hardin>


The second is a 19th century discussion of the Malthus and “the commons” by Lloyd. This is a longer piece, which I have not read all of carefully, but there is discussion of the commons on pages 479 (a “common purse”) and pages 482-3 (why cattle living on the commons are skinnier than those on private land).



Eugenics has a long history in the population movement. The case of Hardin raises again the question of how we should evaluate scientific writings of a person in light of their political beliefs and motivations. 

Best wishes,

Josh


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