Thursday, November 4, 2010

Libertarianism & Carrying Capacity

Somewhat facetious blog title. I'll keep snottiness to a minimum.

Anybody -- even liberals -- can use this as a kind of Cliff Notes for one brand of environmentalism. I'll be more likely to simply describe an idea or behavior than make a case for it. My prejudices, but I'm not pulling them out of the air, and I'm not taking them uncritically for some Green Vatican.

First try:

Garrett Hardin's The Tragedy of the Commons from 1968 makes a case against libertarianism that demands consideration: A society in which individuals -- even marginally -- rationally maximize their own benefits eventually exceeds carrying capacity.

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