The Tragedy of the Commons

Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons" was one of our readings for my ENRM 221 class.

The reading, about 5 pages long -- was difficult to read at first. But it becomes very interesting, once you get used to the language and style.

The philosophy basically says that if resources or utilities were treated as a "commons" which anyone and everyone can occupy, use, and exploit - we are all bound to a tragic end. Specially since , "man - as a rational being," will always strive to reach his maximum potential (admit it, we all want to be winners in our own right). We are created  to aim for more and to achieve the best, but it is difficult to aim for more without taking something from another, because realistically - we all live in a finite world. And this is where the concept of "survival of the fittest" kicks in.

"Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit - in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush , each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in freedom of the commons."

The solution to this tragedy, as I understood from Hardin's text, is to make the "commons",  "uncommon." To illustrate the philosophy, he likened the commons to national parks.  These treasures are opened to the public so that everyone can enjoy the beauty that they bring. However, if no control is practice as to who or how many people can come in and enjoy the parks, they will eventually lose their value and the very reason why we are protecting them. Hence, to make them "uncommon," rules and laws are implemented. Such measures to make these treasures (parks) uncommon are regulation of visitors through limited opening days , or the charging of fees to limit the number of visitors.

Makes sense? To some people, this means depriving citizens to their right to see the parks. But to some people, it is a reasonable control measure. I noticed that they have implemented this control measure to our very own Underwater River in Palawan. Tourists wishing to see this natural wonder must plan their visits well and book a few months in advance, plus, there are also boat fees and entrance fees to the park.

In some ways, making the commons uncommon seems like an injustice to the larger population. But do you agree that we need these checks and balances in order to maintain order? The concept of private property, ownership limitations, compulsary taxes, private healthcare : all these are surprisingly, contributions to world inequality! But as Hardin also pointed out, "Injustice is preferable to total ruin."

Another simple illustration of the tragedy -- the ratio of condominium units to parking slots is 1 : 1 . This is a problem for occupants with more than one vehicle, who then resorted to parking in the commons : free spaces around the compound that are not designated parking spaces. Our developers did not foresee this overpopulation happening, therefore they had no control over these people who take advantage of the commons. There were no multiple vehicles policies, no "No Parking" signs , nor sanctions or penalties for obstruction of the common areas. The result? Overcrowding, safety issues, fire hazards, road blocks, and irrational fights among vehicle owners who all claim rights to the commons.

What other tragedies can we think about , how about intellectual property ( digital music and books as commons), or lives of celebrities as commons? Our rivers and oceans as commons? Anyone affected by the territorial disputes in our oceans will understand that the absence of concrete claims in these "common" territories is the source of all these misunderstandings.

Equal opportunities vs survival of the fittest.

I especially liked Hardin's discussion of the Tragedy alongside the issue of population growth:

"The most important aspect of necessity that we must now recognize, is the necessity of abandoning the commons in breeding. No technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation. Freedom to breed will bring ruin to all.... the only way we can preserve and nurture each other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that very soon. 'Freedom is the recognition of a necessity' - and it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of abandoning the freedom to breed. Only so, can we put an end to this aspect of the Tragedy of the Commons."

It was a very interesting read , one that really gets your mind working. You may download your own PDF copy of the "Tragedy of the Commons" by Garett Hardin  HERE. 

Illustration acknowledgement: http://annystudio.com/show/0012/ 

Sustainable Saturdays - Buying a Ref that saves Money and Energy

Every Saturday, I will share with you practical tips on living a sustainable life or current trends and issues on sustainable development. These are information I mostly come across at work.

Let's start with something simple this Saturday :-) how about some tips on buying a new refrigerator? Buying more efficient appliances at home not only saves on household electricity bills (read: more money to spend on family weekends) , it is also friendlier to the environment because it uses less power, thus less fuel.

The refrigerator is one of the largest energy users in the household. The ref can account for as much as 15 - 20% of your home's total energy use. If your ref is more than 15 years old, you'll save on your electric bills if you replace it with a more efficient unit. although expensive to buy, it will be better for you in the long run.

- When buying a new ref, consider a unit that suits your needs and with a higher Energy Efficiency Factor (EEF) . These are indicated by the small yellow labels they put on new refs for sale. Check out this guide on how to read it:

Don't overcrowd!

- Don't leave the refrigerator door open longer than necessary

- Defrost your refrigerator regularly. Frost acts as an insulating blanket, which causes the motor to work overtime, resulting in increased power consumption.

- Cool food to room temp before storing in the ref. Placing warm food in the ref increases the temperature inside.

- Cover liquids and wrap food you are storing, otherwise, moisture released inside the ref will cause the motor to work harder than normal. The moisture is the source of frost

- Place the ref far enough from the cooking stove or gas range so that it will not be affected by the heat when cooking. Install it where air can circulate freely around it

- Don't overcrowd the refrigerator. This interferes with air circulation and overworks the compressor.

- Check the ref if it is not losing its cool because of a leaky gasket. Test the gasket by closing the door on a peso bill. If the bill slips out when you pool, either the gasket needs replacement or the door needs adjusting





Practice these tips and save on energy costs :-)


Tips and information in this article are from the Department of Energy's Bright Now campaign. Learn more about the campaign and the government's energy programs from  www.doe.gov.ph.

Overlay: Unemployment vs Historical Events

I remember loving encyclopedias because of the transparent "overlays" which illustrate layers or parts in a picture. If you remember, human anatomy is represented "per layer" where body systems are printed per page.. and out together, shows the entire body. Lol. Fun.

Anyway, the concept of overlays came into mind when I was looking at the Philippines' unemployment graph for the past 10 years:

Source: CIA World Factbook

The Philippines' unemployment rate was slowly growing from 1998 - 2004. It suddenly peaked at 11.7% in 2004, drastically declined in 2005, and now gradually declining. Latest available data is 2010, at 7.3% of the labor force without jobs.

I was really surprised with the very noticeable rise of unemployment in 2004, then its steep decline towards 2005. This prompted me to visit the historical milestones in the country (source: Timeline of Philippine History , Wikipedia) , what was happening then?

TIMELINE

2000

Pres. Estrada declares all out war against the MILF

Pres. Estrada gets impeached by Congress

2001

EDSA II

PGMA assumes presidency 

Philippine general election 

2003 

Oakwood Mutiny 

2004

Phil general election

PGMA re-elected to 6 year term

2005 

Hello Garci scandal

2006

Coup rumors

2007

Phil general election 

Manila Peninsula Mutiniy 

2009

ICRC kidnapping

former Pres Cory Aquino dies

Ondoy 

Maguindanao Massacre 

2010 

Phil general election 

PNoy assumes presidency 

Bus hostage incident, Hong Kong 

To better get a picture of how these events are related to our graph, I "overlayed" the key events that could've possibly affected the unemployment curve.

source of graph: CIA World Factbook, click photo to enlarge

It was so interesting to plot the graph this way, where we can directly see the  indicator = event relationship. We see unemployment rising during Erap's watch, noticeably picking up when the impeachment process started. The Oakwood Mutiny was in 2003, and perhaps this caused unrest in the labor force, hence the peaking of the rate in 2004. 

There was a sharp decline in unemployment rate from 2004-2005, and has maintained its constant decline up to present time. 

Was this brought about by PGMA's election ? Perhaps people became hopeful when they knew they elected a President that will be there in the next 6 years? Or was the increase brought about by another factor, like spillover results from programs that Erap implemented during his time? 

There are many other ways to analyze this data, and this historical events approach is one of them. Perhaps one can also analyze it by comparing the unemployment rate to food productivity? Or also checking the volume of business start-ups during those times? 

What do you think, what are the other mechanisms of comparison that we can use?

Influence of Mass Media Survey

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The Vicious Cycle of Poverty -- the elusive bottom

So, I've been using an old, unused Starbucks planner for my DEVC 202 Journal. We're required to keep a journal where we would record our thoughts on development and our answers to the activities in our course modules. This journal is our "pass" for the final exams. (Although, by now, our professor has generously agreed to consider this blog as my pass... uh-oh, pressure!) But I still use my planner anyway ;-)

When scientist Daniel Lerner coined the phrase "vicious cycle of poverty" for the development world, he eventually came to the conclusion that the root cause of poverty is excessive population growth. The point was no matter what we do, population growth will always "counter" or "cancel out" our achievements. One step forward, pop'n growth = 2 steps backwards.

I actually sort of agree with him, as stated in my MDG discussion here, I talked about our fast growth rate as a hindrance to achieving goals. How can we multiply the number of classrooms to catch up with the exponential population growth rate of students? Too much, too fast, too soon.

But I would also point out that lack of education and awareness can also be a root cause (this is why I consider myself as a DevCom advocate, because I believe equipping people with information is a powerful strategy against poverty).

Ah, but this is just my opinion. As what our textbook highlighted,  If the Phils experience zero population growth, will we solve all our problems? If all Filipinos were well-educated, will we solve all our problems? Tough to "get to the bottom of things" !!! Hmmm... this is why I did not become a politician and am  thoroughly enjoying my work in the private sector.

Our course module then took us to understanding the problematique method, a technique of doing a diagram and mind map to help identify the root cause of problems. We were asked to pick a problem in our community and ask ourselves, "Why?" until the question can no longer be answered.

I picked the problem "crowded and chaotic streets in Binan, Laguna"

Let's see if my diagram makes sense:

Why are there crowded and chaotic streets in Binan, Laguna? OMG, I can get emotional on this because it really is a big issue, and I can't understand how our mayor can withstand this problem. My parent's house is very near the town proper and we deal with too much tricycle, blocked roads, street vendors, traffic, illegal parking, everyday!

Two things contribute to this chaos, there is simply too much commercial activity (Binan is a major trading center of all sorts of goods) and a general lack of discipline of both citizens and visitors.

This is a normal view in front of our house. Our street is an extension of the town proper , and we get spillover of the trade activities.

Again, why? There are no allocated spaces for these trade activities. They happen everywhere ..our market spills over to the streets, each vacant space is taken over by delivery vans, etc. There should be laws or zoning guidelines somewhere, but authorities are not implementing them.

This eventually leads me to two related core problems: Is it just poor government planning? Or are they really smart, but lack the political will to implement?

Coming up with solutions to problems is difficult especially if people all have different opinions, and it is only human to try and please everybody.Just to share with you, I got into arguments with my mom and my uncle (who are both involved with different civil society groups in Binan) while drafting this Binan problematique map because we all had different opinions on why stuff happens!  :-)

How about you? Do you agree with my line of thinking? Can you think of your own issue where you can differentiate the "symptoms" from the "solutions"?

National Greening Program of the Philippines

 photo credit here

For my ENRM 221 class (Sociocultural Perspectives on the Environment) , one of our activities was to read about the National Greening Program of the Philippines (NGP). I submitted a 2 page discussion on it but not about to bore you with it :o) . In a nutshell, I can say that the program has an inspiring vision and clear cut guidelines for all government agencies involved . Let's hope all goes well.

I think the NGP is a promising program which is worth sharing, especially if you or your group are looking for ways on how to contribute to the country.

The NGP was introduced via Executive Order 26 in President Noy Aquino's administration,and it seeks to unify all other "greening" programs of the government.

Marked as a priority program of the current administration, aims to contribute to poverty reduction, promote sustainable management of natural resources, enhance food security and productivity, mitigate climate change, and instill environmental consciousness.

The strategy? Bring different stakeholders together – government agencies, civil society and NGOs, and the private sector – and plant 1.5 billion trees by 2016.

Read more about it at http://ngp.denr.gov.ph/

I believe the program is constantly looking for support! The website shows opportunities about how individuals and groups can be a part of it :-)