Oldal 161 [161]
OCR
THE TRAGEDY AND COMEDY OF THE COMMONS 159 attempts to change the attitude of the people to the problem). The second part of the process is to describe the possibilities of action so as to promote the solution of the problem (informing).'* The dissemination of information may be personal or occur via the media (television, radio, internet, printed press, books, etc.). Education cannot effectively help the spreading of environment-friendly behavioral forms unless it is hindered by internal factors and not external circumstances. In vain do our attitudes change and in vain do we know alternative ways of facilitating a solution to the problem, if the social-economic institutional system forces us to carry out actions which undermine our attitude. (A trivial example: in vain are we persuaded to buy drinks in returnable bottles when there are none available and we are forced to buy throwaway bottles). Moreover, what is at issue here is individual action and self-restraint. Therefore, when the individual does not notice change anywhere else, he/she might draw conclusions similar to the zero-sum game: the action of a single person can’t achieve much, or might even be detrimental, so he/she easily gives up . Actually, achieving profound, radical change merely through providing information is hardly possible, for it is almost impossible to get people to act in ways which oppose their value systems or worldviews. Changing the value systems and worldviews Noticing the deterioration of the quality of the pasture, a herdsman began to point out passionately to his fellows that their thinking was fundamentally mistaken, and if they failed to change it, they would meet a tragic fate because of overgrazing. In long conversations and disputes, he tried to persuade them that they should not be so materialistic in their thinking, and growth had its limits. He convinced several farmers fairly quickly, who joined him in trying to influence the rest. Though the process was very slow, eventually all the cattle farmers order of values and worldview changed to some extent, and the majoritys view changed fundamentally. The new mentality brought about new behavioral norms. The most important one was: “Keep as many animals as are necessary to maintain your family and yourself modestly.” As a result, most herdsmen radically decreased the number of cows, which was enough to avoid the tragedy. Though the material welfare of nearly everybody decreased, the farmers and their families lived happily ever afier for many generations. This approach is similar to the previous one (the goal being the change of mentality), but it is more radical. It aims at a more profound and general transformation than education does. Several thinkers proclaim that the root of environmental problems lie in the dominant values (value system) and basic convictions (the aggregate of which is termed worldview or cultural paradigm) (e.g. Quinn 1992; McDaniel — Gowdy 1999). These need to be changed and It is a frequent shortcoming of environmental education that this second part is often omitted. They frighten people with the problem, but fail to present alternative options for action. This is a serious issue because the feeling of helplessness they cause often (usually subconsciously) leads us to use deterring mechanisms: for instance, we begin to deny or belittle the problem, instead of making efforts to solve it (Winter — Koger 2004).
