The Tragedy of the Commons To have an ecological consciousness, is to live in a world of wounds. From this sprung the notion that the pursuit of individual interests will result in collective disaster in the absence of external controls. This paper had considerable impact on environmental and ecological thought over the past several decades, leading to the belief that strong regulatory control was the only answer. More recently, other approaches have been demonstrated for balancing individual and collective interests through better communication, education, and public involvement. This is a philosophy of informed and wide-spread empowerment needed to complement centralized management.
Economists refer to commons as a shortened form of common property resource.
Such a resource is sometimes said to be owned by everyone and so by no one. The classic example of such a resource is the fish in the ocean. It resides in the solemnity of the remorseless working of things. The tragedy of the commons develops in this way. Picture a pasture open to all.