What is flower power anyway?

To many people the phrase "flower power" conjures up images of tripped out hippies, and Vietnam War
protests, but these words have so much more potential...

Monday, October 18, 2010

Blog #9 - Tragedy of the Commons

The concept of "tragedy of the commons" applies well to the commercial fishing industry. If a company has overfished its own waters, then why not sail over to another unclaimed spot and reap there as much as possible. And since this is a business venture, it is often viewed as a matter of legality or illegality and morality is termed irrelevant.

Due to the political climate of today it is difficult to imagine that nations will altruistically steward the planets resources when they are not set to benefit directly from it themselves. Our planet has been objectified to such an extent that every plant, animal, even resources at their molecular level can be qualified in terms of their monetary value. Even the concept of the “tragedy of the commons” seems predicated on the abuse of shared resources for personal gain. Non-governmental agencies are not necessarily well-positioned to protect the resources in these "no man's lands" either because they must suffer the burden of having to constantly validate their allegiance.

I don't know that there is a solution to this issue. I will say that we should not hold ourselves back from doing anything simply because we are afraid of not doing the right thing. US isolationism after WWI and the “Bush Doctrine” that infamously stumped Sarah Palin are two sides of the same coin. And although I hesitate to draw analogies between militarism and environmentalism Martin Niemoller’s poem “First They Came” is a beautiful illustration of the danger of stalling action behind prudence and public consensus.


They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

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