Tragedy of the Commons
A situation within a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting that resource through their collective action.
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Origin
Coined by the ecologist Garrett Hardin in a 1968 article. Hardin used the term to describe a situation in which individuals, acting in their own self-interest, use a shared resource such as land or water to the point of depletion or destruction, resulting in a negative outcome for all. Hardin's article was influential in highlighting the need for collective action and regulation to address environmental issues, and the term has since become a widely recognized concept in fields such as economics, environmental studies, and political science.