Summary Of ' The Tragedy Of The Commons ' By Garrett Hardin

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NHV Paper 2

“Response to a Debate”

Caleb Micho
10 October 2014
Nature and Human Values Section A11
Rose Pass
There is no questioning the fact that the world population is increasing without bound, however, there is a debate if this increase is a good thing, or if it will prove catastrophic. In the article “The Tragedy of the Commons” by Garrett Hardin. Hardin discusses how the ever-increasing world population will deplete the world of its natural resources, and thus human’s capability of survival. On the other side of the argument though, is Julian L. Simon who wrote the article “More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment.” This article proposes the theory that with an increase in population, human’s quality of life is amplified. One particular issue that they both touch on and have drastically different views on is the future of agriculture and human’s ability to sustain it.
Hardin goes into how the world only has so many resources and opportunity for agriculture to be expended. So with enough increase in population, these resources will become extinct. Thus humans, will run out, and eventually starve to death. As he so profoundly put it “a finite world can only support a finite population” (Hardin 98).
Simon goes on to discuss how humans always seem to come up with means to satisfy their needs. When discussing agriculture he goes as far as saying that food becoming a scarcity is a “benign trend” (Simon 24). Benign in this case meaning not harmful or in effect. Thus Simon does not see a worry about population increase and agricultural needs, as he has seen them being taken care of through agricultural advancements throughout the decades.
The main topic in the debate of the escalation...

... middle of paper ...

...d will be made through the decades. Simon approached the right idea by showing how humans are trending towards agricultural growth, but failed to paint the whole picture with food and survival. While Hardin had a blind view of agricultural engineering and failed to accurately predict what the future can hold for humankind.

Works Cited
"Farms, Land in Farms, and Livestock Operations 2010 Summary." U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 19 Feb. 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.
Gul, Hafiza Tahira. "Potential of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Crop Protection: A
Review." Academia.edu. Bzujournal, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.
James, Clive. 2011. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2011. ISAAA Brief
No. 43. ISAAA: Ithaca, NY.
Perlman, Howard. "Irrigation Techniques." Irrigation: USGS Water-Science School. U.S.
Department of Interior, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.

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