This weeks reading is about sustainability. Be sure you have a firm grasp of the idea. One way to think about it is Hardin’s ideas about overgrazing presented
in Tragedy of the Commons: too much over-grazing leads to a point of environmental collapse as the underlying resource can no longer re-generate. The
result is that the population dependent on that resource collapses. Overfishing the Chesapeake Bay provides a good example. Take too many crabs and the
next generation is smaller. Keep repeating and crabs are depleted. Get the point. Now think about this on a larger scale across many different resources.
Now consider this. One (and only one) of the great policy debates over the last 20 years or so has been over which “mechanism” provides the best set of
solutions to the the issue of sustainability. On the one hand, some people argue market based responses coupled with changing technologies that arise to
meet demand will ultimately prove best; on the other, some argue that public/government power (regulation of production and consumption) is necessary to
meet the challenges.
Where do you stand on this issue? Lets assume for the sake of this essay that everyone agrees that sustainability is a good idea. The divide is over how to
accomplish it.
Write a strong essay of about 500 words in which you ponder this divide. Base your answer on everything and anything you’ve read. DO NOT USE EXTERNAL
SOURCES: IF YOU DO I WILL GIVE YOU A ZERO FOR YOUR WORK. Be sure to cite evidence from anything you’ve read. Do not make this an emotional diatribe.