Problem of Global Warming Is Not a Good Example of Tragedy of the Commons - Essay Example

?578907 Like many modern problems, global warming is complicated. Of it must be considered a “tragedy of the commons” no matter which connotation of the phrase one applies. It affects too many people and resources to not be considered a problem whose magnitude is suggested by the word tragedy and the draining of the earth’s commons have added considerably to the effects of global warming. Global warming involves the air, the water, the soil—all elements of “the commons.” However, whether global warming is the concern of everyone who accesses the commons is another story. Clearly, it is the responsibility of everyone to do as little as possible to harm the planet, and as much as they can to preserve what there is left for future generations. Yet, few people participate in this endeavor, and to most humans, even those who do participate, it comes as no surprise. Pretty much everyone on the planet contributes to global warming, but not everyone has the same size of contribution. A farmer in African who lives in a hut without running water or electricity is not contributing in the same way as a Christmas-loving woman in Pomona with a 5500 square foot home on which she strings a million Christmas lights throughout the months of November, December and January. Both are contributing but definitely the excessive display of lights uses up more electricity and thereby indirectly contributes to the drain of natural resources and pollution of the ozone than does the poor farmer in Africa with a few cows whose methane laden wastes also directly diminish the ozone. The woman in Pomona most likely also consumes meat and dairy products which equal the poor African farmer’s small contribution to global warming. The farmer may not even be aware that there is such a thing as global warming, but the Pomona woman knows. She either does not care or figures many other people are conserving energy and checking their carbon footprints. Their efforts, she reasons, compensate for her lack of effort. That is the tragedy because humans are normally selfish and naturally pass the buck on things that are time-consuming, confusing, or stressful. It takes time to separate one’s garbage. It takes money to buy an environmentally friendly car or to attach solar panels to one’s roof. It is much easier to let others do it and pretend to be on board. In fact, stopping global warming has become such a trendy thing, some people (the few who can afford it) purchase environmentally friendly products just to be hip. For instance, people have solar panels installed on the shady side of their house because it is more aesthetic there than on the sunny side. Their motivation is really only to show other people that they contribute even if their contribution is meaningless. Those efforts are pretty extreme, but lesser similarly hypocritical efforts such as buying certain earth friendly products because they are the “in” thing make a difference even if the motivation for doing so is skewed. The fact that people find the topic of global warming too overwhelming, too boring, and too frightening may explain why it took several decades for environmentalists to direct enough attention to the impending doom. Prior to Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, only a few tree huggers living in the back woods of Oregon cared that coal mining was destroying the environment in West Virginia. What do the tree huggers care asked the coal miners? It is West Virginian’s livelihood and their damaged environment, but, of course, that is not true. Other people are affected by the damage not only to the soil and water done by the coal mining, but also to the ozone. The poor African farmer is affected by it, the woman in Pomona maybe even more so judging by the stagnant cloud of smog that frequently sits over a good portion of Southern California. The ozone over the farmer’s head is diminishing just as quickly as the ozone over a West Virginia coal miner’s head. Their children will all have to deal with issue in the future, which may be a lot more treacherous than it is for humans living on the planet now. Perhaps, if people had taken heed 40 years ago when people like Garrett Hardin were drawing attention to the issue of overpopulation, which is a major factor affecting global warming, then we would not currently be in such a dire predicament. Global warming must be considered a tragedy of the commons because as Hardin defines the particular tragedy that he discusses in the essay titled, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” there is not scientific solution to global warming yet. Hardin says, “A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or nothing in the way of change in human values or ideas of morality” (Hardin 12). To stem the tide of global warming, human values and ideas of morality must change. True, it may not have been possible to stop global warming altogether and it is most likely too late for humans to stop it from being devastating, but they could slow it down a little, and after years of environmentalists’ warnings of the dire times to come, people finally got the message and started to act. But, like Samuel Kernell and Gary C. Jacobson point out getting people organized to act is not the challenge of collective action. The challenge is what Kernell and Jacobson term “the prisoner’s dilemma” (10). The prisoner’s dilemma again, just points out that the natural selfishness of human beings will control their actions. The prisoner’s dilemma occurs when a person wants to act with the group, but sees some sort of personal benefit for acting against the group. The cause of the pollution and drain of resources that directly affect global warming have occurred because too many people find themselves in the that very spot, having to decide whether they can live with themselves if they pursue their own greedy interests over the interests of all humanity. Unfortunately, too many people have no problem looking out for number one. Their consciences do not seem to bother them, and it is way too easy to forget that whatever temporary personal gain they receive from following their greed will have devastating effects on the planet far into the future. The fact that some people do try to curb the impending global warming disaster seems to shine a little light onto the human race. Some, and since An Inconvenient Truth, more, people have dedicated themselves to action. Individual action does count. However, probably not enough to make much of a difference, and even if everyone dutifully brought reusable shopping bags to the grocery store each week, consistently recycled everything they could, and biked to work rather than drove, the big polluters—oil and coal companies, chemical factories, vehicle exhaust and so forth—would still doom the planet. They do not feel the pressure. Some of it has to do with the horrible financial mess the entire world suffers in at the moment, but not all. The rest of it occurs because, as Robert Putnam claims, people are trapped by their own low expectations of each other and their fear of change. “Everyone would be better off if everyone could cooperate. In the absence of coordination and credible mutual commitment, however, everyone defects, ruefully but rationally, confirming one another's melancholy expectations” (Putnam 25). Because of our collective inaction, we doom the planet to utter destruction. The real tragedy is the inability of humans to forget past wrongs, to suspend judgment of each other, and to join together in collective action that would benefit all. In those areas there are no commons and unfortunately, it seems as if there never will be mutual cooperation among humans even when it comes to preserving something livable for their descendants. Sadly, the selfishness of humans overrides their decency and the result will be a future much different, a climate much harsher, and an environment much less conducive to survival. No matter how many times the message is repeated, no matter how dramatically it is expressed, because humans do not have live television news coverage of the consequences of global warming, they cannot fathom such a predicament, and therefore, cannot bring themselves to act for the collective good of all humankind. Instead, they just keep taking their portion of the commons, which grows smaller and smaller because of over population and ecological destruction, and the tragedy intensifies. Works Cited Hardin, Garrett. "The Tragedgy of the Commons." Principles and Practices of American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Ed. Samuel Kernell and Steven S. Smith. Washington D.C.: C.Q. Press, 2010. Kernell, Samuel and Gary C. Jacobson. The Logic of American Politics. 3rd. Washington D.C.: CQ Press, 2006. Putnam, Robert D. "The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life." Principles and Practices of American Politics. Ed. Samuel Kernell and Steven S. Smith. Washington D.C.: C. Q. Press, 2010. 25-32. Read More