PP&D 132 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Garrett Hardin, International Inequality, Middle Ages
12 May 2018
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During our this week’s lecture we discussed the economic side of the
sustainability spectrum. We touched upon such topics as distribution of
wealth and greed. Our this week’s reading by Garrett Hardin, “The
Tragedy of the Commons,” went complementary to our lecture since it
explained the tragedy of the commons through the illustration of the
field and cows. Garrett explained how everyone had the incentive to get
greedy and get more cows although they did not have enough space,
and if breached, would be at risk of causing destruction. This
demonstrates how many people carelessly waste our limited natural
resources.
During our lecture, Professor Matthew compared the life expectancy of
the poorest people in the planet today to those of the middle ages. We
learned that there used to be a very small pay gap between the wealthy
and the poor due to the conditions after World War II. The wealthiest
people in the country lost an immense amount of wealth while the less
wealthy people experienced an increase in wages because of the vast
need of jobs after the war in order to rebuild the economy. However, this
gap between the rich and poor has been widening every day ever since,
increasing global inequality rates. Today, there is an immense
discrepancy in the wealth and income distribution. As professor
Matthew mentioned in class, the CEOs of major companies such as
Nike, Louis Vuitton, and H&M earn more money in four days than what
warehouse workers earn in Bangladesh in their lifetime. As a matter of
fact, it was disturbing to learn that the wealthiest 1% of the world’s
population today owns more that half of the world’s wealth.
Moreover, we learned that due to the changes in the way our society
and the world function brought about by the technological
advancements and the evolving economy, nearly 60% of our generation
will be entering into jobs that have not yet been created.
Hi Alondra, I really liked the connection you drew between greed and sustainability
using the example of the field and cows from our this week's reading by Garrett Hardin.
I also believe that the companies who are more sustainable should be encouraged
while those that carelessly neglect the environment abusing the limited natural
resources that we have should be faced with harsh penalties.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
During our this week"s lecture we discussed the economic side of the sustainability spectrum. We touched upon such topics as distribution of wealth and greed. Our this week"s reading by garrett hardin, the. Tragedy of the commons, went complementary to our lecture since it explained the tragedy of the commons through the illustration of the. Garrett explained how everyone had the incentive to get greedy and get more cows although they did not have enough space, and if breached, would be at risk of causing destruction. This demonstrates how many people carelessly waste our limited natural resources. During our lecture, professor matthew compared the life expectancy of the poorest people in the planet today to those of the middle ages. We learned that there used to be a very small pay gap between the wealthy and the poor due to the conditions after world war ii.
