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Contrived example time? What is the political system on the spaceship that allows three of the four to hold a vote and kill off the least popular guy on the sp

• jjoonathan 13y ago
  It's contrived but it highlights a real problem: free markets are very poorly suited to the task of avoiding tragedies of the commons. Unless you think tragedies of the commons don't happen in real life, the contrived example is relevant.
  • CamperBob2 13y ago
    The problem with the example is that it doesn't illustrate the tragedy of the commons. Self-interest alone will lead the astronauts to do the right thing, because they're rational actors who are fully aware of their situation, and who are not in competition with each other. There's no incentive for the "libertarian" astronaut to consume more oxygen than the others. In your example, only stupid astronauts (or, I suppose, mentally impaired ones) would fail to conserve their oxygen. It's better to structure your economic views to encourage and expect rational behavior among fully-aware actors, even if this ideal is rarely approached in practice.
    • JonnieCache 13y ago
      >It's better to structure your economic views to encourage and expect rational behavior among fully-aware actors, even if this ideal is rarely approached in practice. Why?
      • CamperBob2 13y ago
        Because otherwise you end up allowing naive, irrational, and dishonest actors to determine how your system functions for everyone. It's like airport security.
  • VMG 13y ago
    Let's use your contrived example to highlight a new problem: The three astronauts Yuri and John elect Markus to be the new commissioner of oxygen, while Markus votes for Ronald and Ronald abstains. Everybody delegates total control to Markus, who unfortunately turns out to be a psychopath and kills the whole crew. What were we talking about again?
• saraid216 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Dudley_and_Stephens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Dudley_and_Stephens