Abandoning the Freedom to Breed

Every new enclosure of the commons involves the infringement of somebody's personal liberty. Infringements made in the distant past are accepted because no contemporary complains of a loss. It is the newly proposed infringements that we vigorously oppose; cries of "rights" and "freedom" fill the air. But what does "freedom" mean? When men mutually agreed to pass laws against robbing, mankind became more free, not less so. Individuals locked into the logic of the commons are free only to bring on universal ruin; once they see the necessity of mutual coercion, they become free to pursue other goals. I believe it was Hegel who said, "Freedom is the recognition of necessity."

 

The most important aspect of necessity that we must now recognize, is the necessity of abandoning the commons in breeding. No technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation. Freedom to breed will bring ruin to all. At the moment, to avoid hard decisions many of us are tempted to propagandize for conscience and responsible parenthood. The temptation must be resisted, because an appeal to independently acting consciences selects for the disappearance of all conscience in the long run, and an increase in anxiety in the short.

The only way we can preserve and nurture other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that very soon. "Freedom is the recognition of necessity" -- and it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of abandoning the freedom to breed. Only so, can we put an end to this aspect of the tragedy of the commons.

     Garrett Hardin: The Tragedy of the Commons, Science 162(1968):1243-1248

 

Comments

[Jack Alpert]

[this is good] I have been working on implementing rapid population decline as a means of dealing with the common tragidysince this article was published.  

dince then the population has increased and the commons problems have increased.   Some would say we are now at an unrecoverable state. 

I am not sure,    I will keep working on Hardin's "mutual coercion, mutually agreed up," as a way of implementing Once child per family Laws. 
If you wish to help, review Humankind's Viability Is Preceded by Rapid Population Decline  and other articles at SKIL.org
Jack Alpertalpert@skil.org