Sustainability Could Happen (Harden vs. Garret)
Sustainability Could Happen
Harden vs. Garret
It can be argued that human instinct is an ever evolving characteristic that is never always in sync with that of nature. Human’s have the ability and sometimes the burden to understand and comprehend what is happening to him and his surroundings. One thing that is consistent with Human instinct is that the level of understanding and the ability to adapt to one’s surrounding has both different points of views and attitudes towards what direction one should progress. What should the humans do to live sustainably?In Wendell Barry’s Getting along with Nature, Berry feels that change begins with the realization of interdependency between nature and humans. In The Tragedy of the Commons, by Garret Hardin, the population is the greatest evil facing sustainability. Hardin and Berry are the quintessential polar opposites in regards to their own personal perceptions, human nature, and faith in society but if we could meld these two minds then the idea of sustainability could become a reality.
Hardin’s and Berry’s Synopsis The main idea of Hardin’s The Tragedy of the Commons, is that with population increase comes too many humans. Too many humans will undoubtedly harm his environment through the theory that consumption is at the core of the human instinct. Looking directly at Hardin’s ‘Tragedy‘ principle, he is saying that it is in the Human nature to pursue self indulgence and that supersedes the good of the community. If every human thinks in this manner then it is only a matter of time before that indulgence can no longer be supported and everyone will share the loss. The Common’s example says this; If there is a common space where everyone can raise their cattle and they can receive full benefit from the sale of that cattle then then end result plus one. If one herder brings in one new cattle then every herder starts to bring in new cattle and the commons will eventually be destroyed. Now, if the entire commons
Harden vs. Garret
It can be argued that human instinct is an ever evolving characteristic that is never always in sync with that of nature. Human’s have the ability and sometimes the burden to understand and comprehend what is happening to him and his surroundings. One thing that is consistent with Human instinct is that the level of understanding and the ability to adapt to one’s surrounding has both different points of views and attitudes towards what direction one should progress. What should the humans do to live sustainably?In Wendell Barry’s Getting along with Nature, Berry feels that change begins with the realization of interdependency between nature and humans. In The Tragedy of the Commons, by Garret Hardin, the population is the greatest evil facing sustainability. Hardin and Berry are the quintessential polar opposites in regards to their own personal perceptions, human nature, and faith in society but if we could meld these two minds then the idea of sustainability could become a reality.
Hardin’s and Berry’s Synopsis The main idea of Hardin’s The Tragedy of the Commons, is that with population increase comes too many humans. Too many humans will undoubtedly harm his environment through the theory that consumption is at the core of the human instinct. Looking directly at Hardin’s ‘Tragedy‘ principle, he is saying that it is in the Human nature to pursue self indulgence and that supersedes the good of the community. If every human thinks in this manner then it is only a matter of time before that indulgence can no longer be supported and everyone will share the loss. The Common’s example says this; If there is a common space where everyone can raise their cattle and they can receive full benefit from the sale of that cattle then then end result plus one. If one herder brings in one new cattle then every herder starts to bring in new cattle and the commons will eventually be destroyed. Now, if the entire commons
Cited: (http://www.globalhealthhub.org/2010/10/15/ted-2010-hans-rosling-on-global-population-growth/) De Young R. and S. Kaplan (2012). Adaptive muddling. In R. De Young and T. Princen [Eds.] The Localization Reader: Adapting to the Coming Downshift. (Chapter 22, Pp. 287-298) Cambridge, MA: The MIT (HTTP Press.www-personal.umich.edu/~rdeyoung/tragedy.html) Hunter, Lori, Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics, MR-1191-WFHF/RF/DLPF, 2000, 97 pp., ISBN: 0-8330-2901-0.www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB5045/index1.html Miller, Tyler; Spoolman, Scott; “Living in the Environment: Custom Edition”. cc Cengage Learning; 2011