Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Week 8 Tutorial: Tragedy of the Commons

QUESTIONS

  • What is a commons?

  • List some examples of communal systems that you and your Australian partners have been a part of and identify which ones have worked and which have not.

  • What are some of the key determinants that dictate whether the communal systems identified above examples above have worked or not?

  • Why is it that some communal systems involved in the management of resources work while others dont? Example: Why do some group houses "work" while others don't, and why do some "tea-clubs" work but in others all the biscuits get pinched!

  • Were there any distinct international/cultural differences between Singapore and Australia that explain why some communal systems worked, while others did not? If not, why not?

Posted by at
Labels:

3 comments:

  1. Sam11 March, 2009 16:28

    1. A commons seems to usually refer to a finite resource. In the example of the grazing ground for the animals, in the case of fisheries, forests, etc. they were all resources with a limited amount that resource. It becomes a commons when multiple parties share the use of that resource for mutual gain.

    2. There are a lot of communal systems. Living situations in which you're not living by yourself, any kind of team, an organization, a club, etc. Some examples of communal systems in the US include similar things to Singapore such as libraries, roads, parks, etc.

    3. I think there are some general characteristics of successful communal systems and unsuccessful communal systems. Successful systems are able to sacrifice self for team, meaning they can lay down their own interests and put the goals and needs of the collective team before their own interests. Unsuccessful teams cannot.

    4. I think there has to be a willingness to sacrifice something personally. Also, there has to be an element of trust that the person next to you isn't going to stab you in the back, or get greedy. In a perfect world, we could trust everyone to work together and not be selfish, but because it isn't, I agree with the article that some sort of checks and balances are needed to ensure a successful communal system.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11 March, 2009 18:06

    I agree with everything you've said, Sam, but here is what I wrote.


    1) A commons is an environment that involves shared use of resources by individuals.

    2) A communal system I have been involved in is our Year 12 Common Room in highschool. All members were expected to contribute in the form of providing something to the group, be it tea, milk, cleaning products, or the actual act of cleaning.
    It was not very sucessful as a few participants ended up doing all the work, while those who did not contribute were more likely to leave a mess behind or otherwise behave in a way which did not benefit the group. This also created an atmosphere of resentment towards those who were not putting in their fair share of work.

    3) Key determinants as to whether a 'commons' situation will work might include:
    -Respect for the other group members and the 'commons' environment.
    - Some form of accountability for selfish behaviour.
    -The state of the common area in the first place, and behaviour of other members (if everyone else is acting for themselves, one is less likely to be group-oriented).
    - Equal investment in the common resources.

    4) I think some communal systems work better than others mostly due to accountability. This may be in the form of punishment or simply having other members made aware of actions that are not in the interests of the group, but I think that either way people are much more likely to behave in a group-minded manner if they believe there will be consequences.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Natalyn12 March, 2009 09:47

    Communal systems that work:

    in my junior college days, the field have been scheduled to be used by different sports groups on different days, and at the same time, all the groups have to take turns to water the fields to make sure that the field is of a right condition to play on.


    Communal system that doesn't work:

    nus libraries. vandalization of books (through highlighting, and tearing of pages). it's something all nus students share, but some exploit these facilities.



    Determinants:
    1. Sense of belonging.
    2. Ownership.


    Haha! That's all that I can think of. =)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)