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by jvanderbot 1167 days ago
I respect your (hypothetical) altruism.

This isn't tragedy of the commons, because the whole of humanity does not end up worse with these actions. I'm not convinced that clearing an encampment makes the average wellbeing across humanity go down. These arguments turn a blind eye to the harms to surrounding people and the homeless involved.

1 comments

> This isn't tragedy of the commons, because the whole of humanity does not end up worse with these actions.

Nothing about "tragedy of the commons" implies that the "commons" must be of global scope. The name derives from the classic example of unregulated grazing on common land in the UK.

> These arguments turn a blind eye to the harms to surrounding people and the homeless involved.

Not at all, the whole point is to reduce those harms. When you clear an encampment, the homeless person doesn't just disappear. You don't fix the problem, you just move it elsewhere and make it worse and harder to fix.