Production of Smog Pollutants in China
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Production of Smog Pollutants in China
China, the world’s most populated nation states. It has an estimated population of one billion people. The nation also features among the most industrialized globally. Due to the integration of heavy population and industrialization, it follows that these industries and population are highly on the already scarce natural resources “commons.” The utility of these scarce resources leads to a wide array of pollution. China faces a wide array of pollution problems. This ranges from air pollution, water and land pollution among others. Conventionally, industrialization more often than not leads to rural- urban migration. The implication therefore is an increase in urban population densities and consequently over population and pollution. Air pollution in China results to health problems, reduced visibility as well as property damage. Air pollution leads to respiratory problems of bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. It is for these reasons therefore that Garrett Hardin in his article “Tragedy of the Commons” advocates for the application of non technical solutions to solve the problem of environmental degradation. This article therefore critically seeks to analyze Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of Commons” in relation to the problem of air pollution in China and how this problem can be rationally solved.
Garrett Hardin’s critical point of departure in his essay “Tragedy of the Commons” was that if resources were held in common for use by every individual in society, it would follow that ultimately the resource will be depleted or destroyed. This draws great comparison to what William Lloyd had earlier put forth: “The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides in the solemnity of the remorseless working of things.” Therefore, according to him, to keep away from this ultimate destruction and depletion of resources, human beings ought to change their attitudes, ideas and morality.
By “Held in Common” the author implies that resources are communally owned and therefore it is accessible to everyone. Garrett Hardin’s essay was written at a time when communism in China was at its peak. However, in the present day China, communism is quickly fading. The implication of this is an increase in private ownership of property, which is characterized by unhealthy competition of self interest. Self interest means promoting of activities that almost solely benefit a single individual, party, or group. Self interest in China has accelerated the growth and development of the industrial sector. This growth has resulted to uncontrolled depletion of natural resources, unhealthy competition between and among industries and ultimately a drastic increase in contamination of “The Commons”, in this case air pollution. Therefore, increased smog production in China as a result of air pollution shows that overlooking communism has resulted to the ignorance of the principle of collective interest. The principle of collective interest states that individuals should use the environmental resources cautiously so that it can sustain a community. It is therefore evident that pollution of environment can be cut down by emphasis on collective interest rather than individual interest.
By ultimately, Garrett Hardin in his article “Tragedy of the Commons” meant after a period of time. This period of time is intertwined to an increase in demographic figures of those who have exclusive access to the scarce resources. Mathematically, this implies that with an increase in the population of those dependent on the resources, the faster it is for the resources to face the threat of depletion. A “tragedy of the commons” is thus related to the population of a place. For instance, the population of the Peoples Republic of China in 1990 stood at an approximate figure of 1.1billion people. The population of the same is approximately over the 1.3billion mark today. This is a massive increase of approximately 200million people in a period of two decades. This difference has resulted in the tragedy of commons. The tragedy is that, the already straining natural resources ought to cater for an ever increasing population in China. The air composition remains constant, yet it should support the life of the increasing population resulting to air pollution. An increase in population is also a prerequisite for increased competition which more often than not is unhealthy resulting to industrialization.
According to Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons”, a resource for use “common” must be available and accessible for use by human beings. The People’s Republic of China ranks among one of the most polluted in terms of air in the world. It will therefore not be naïve to say that air in China is not able to accommodate and perform the traditional roles. To reinforce this assertion, is the fact that unhealthy industrialization practices have also had a significant impact in the depletion an pollution of the common air. The inadequacy of clean air leads to the development of smog. Smog has a number of effects to living organisms. Smog in China leads to a number of respiratory diseases such as: asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis among others. Smog also does not provide plants with conditions necessary for growth and development. It therefore hampers the growth of plants in China. Smog also acts as a precondition in the reduction of visibility. Therefore, it is a potential cause of hazards such as road and air accidents. It is evident therefore that the natural resource in the form of air in China, though available, is inadequate to sustainably support human life.
According to Garrett Hardin, a tragedy is not the result of human greed. Other factors lead to a tragedy. These include increase in population and industrialization practices. It will be of importance to note that air pollution and smog in China is not related to greed. This assumes the myth of competition in terms of industrialization and development. This argument is subject to psychology in the sense that, one may engage in activities sub consciously without knowing the expected outcomes. The Chinese are globally known for their hard working nature. This nature mirrors in their economic status globally. Therefore it would not be raw to say that the Chinese day to day activities of industrial growth and development, not forgetting their ever increasing population, is sub consciously “ignorant” of the dire environmental consequences. These factors have consequently integrated resulting to air pollution and smog which affect human lives.
”The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension of morality.”Garret Hardin begins his article by stating that there are some problems that lack technical solutions “There is no technical solution”. “A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or nothing in the way of change in human values or ideas of morality.” Hardin (1968). Garrett Hardin does acknowledge the fact that, yes technical solutions can address these issues but not on their own. Technical issues should therefore be supplemented by the non technical issues. Non technical solutions in his essay revolve around issues to do with human principles, ethics, equality, values, morality and justice. The problem of over population in China can be addressed if the Chinese people change their principles for the better. He implies that the problem is human centered and therefore it is the individual Chinese man who should realize or be made to realize through education that over population has had an impact on air pollution in China. In a nutshell therefore, ethics, principles, standard moral practice among other human centered approach will go a long way in addressing the population, industrialization and air pollution problem in China.
He proceeds to recommend that by changing our ways of life and cherishing our values, then as community tragedies are avoidable. One such recommendation is on the utility of mutual coercion. Mutual coercion is where as society as a whole by mutual agreement accept that a number of actions are intolerable. This follows that the violation of such actions will result to punishment of fines and even imprisonment.”If you don’t do as we ask, we will openly condemn you for not acting like a responsible citizen.” In China, this will go a long way when it comes to matters of achieving environmental sustainability. Garrett Hardin also recommends the use of restrictions and incentives as a method to curb air pollution in China, incentives to couples who observe the norm of having one child. The carbon credits awards for instance is an initiative of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) which rewards industrial sector that achieve the least air pollution practice. A number of these recommendations as put forth by Garrett Hardin would go away in reducing air pollution in China.
Conventionally, just like any other scholarly documents, Tragedy of the Commons has been subject to a number of criticisms. This essay for instance fails to account for change in population. It also does not distinguish between open access property and common property. Other scholars have found this tragedy not challenging to solve. These criticisms however have not rendered the essay non beneficial.
The “Tragedy of the Commons” and air pollution in China share a number of issues. In China, the fall of communal ownership of property has resulted to unhealthy self competition leading to air pollution. The depletion of natural the common of air in China will not happen in a few years but it will happen after a very long time. This will be the result of the ever increasing population as well as industrial growth and development. This utilizes the natural resources in a way that they face the threat of depletion. The resources to be depleted must be available. In China, though not adequate, air for depletion is available. These resources do not face depletion as a result of human greed but psychological factors that are associated with human beings affect the resources. However, there exist non technical solutions to supplement the already existing technical solutions. Non technical solutions exist in the forms of incentives, mutual coercion as well as restriction of access. Therefore, according to Garrett Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons, solutions do exist for the air pollution problem in China.
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