Locke's Tragedy of the Commons

Locke’s classification of property is based on his labor theory of property that builds from a common property basis. He believed that natural law guarantees man the right to private property, writing that "god, who hath given the world to men in common, hath also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience." This suggests man should use God’s gift of Earth how he sees fit, but he contrasts this idea with “though all the fruits it naturally produces and beasts it feeds, belong to mankind in common… there must of necessity be a means to appropriate them some way or other before they can be of any use, or at all beneficial, to any particular men." Man can obtain his own property through his own person, which is made possible by the "labor" of his body and the "work" of his hands. Locke is saying that when man rearranges his natural surroundings through labor he then makes them his personal property. If this existed today, there would be a global scramble to rearrange nature from its natural state to personalized roles in order to claim that resource as “property.” When I read that Locke advocated for proper distribution of common property, I thought of the tragedy of the commons and the drain on natural resources that approach can result in. It is not realistic to believe that man will not eventually turn everything into personal property. He will keep applying his personal touch to nature until there is no longer any common land or resources. A key detail to understanding how Locke’s theory can better society is to take note of the limitation he puts on this idea of personal property. He believed that, “as much as any one can make use of to any advantage of life before it spoils, so much he may by his labor fix a property in. Whatever is beyond this is more than his share, and belongs to others. Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or destroy." This limitation supports the idea that “one should only take what he can use,” protecting man from greed and over indulgence. The balance makes it possible for these two concepts to exist in a common society. Realistically, I think most people today would ignore Locke’s message to take only their share but instead put the quest for personally property ahead of all other ambitions, creating a tragedy of the commons.