'In these tragedy-of-the-commons types of scenarios, all can be willing to agree to a change of the rules, so long as no actor gains immediate "unfair" advantag

'In these tragedy-of-the-commons types of scenarios, all can be willing to agree to a change of the rules, so long as no actor gains immediate "unfair" advantage.' That, sadly, is why I am so pessimistic about political change via the current advocacy model. Tragedy of the common's type situations can often be avoided if enough players can agree to a some convention or code of behaviour. The problem with special interest in politics is that even if every politician could agree that the current way the game is played is destructive, special interest would actively work against reform. Change under the current system is reliant on the altruism of those in power to limit that power.