word
tragedy of the commons
TRAJ-ih-dee uv the KOM-unz
ˈtrædʒɪdi əv ðə ˈkɒmənzListen
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Syllable breakdown
tragedyofthecommons
Dictionary meaning
a situation in which individual users of a shared resource, each acting rationally in their own self-interest, collectively deplete or destroy that resource to the detriment of all; first articulated as a formal concept by Garrett Hardin in 1968 using the metaphor of a shared grazing pasture; applies to fisheries, groundwater aquifers, the atmosphere, and other common-pool resources; solutions include privatization, government regulation, or community self-governance as studied by Elinor Ostrom
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