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Garrett James Hardin
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Living within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos First Paperback Edition

by Garrett Hardin (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 80 ratings
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"We fail to mandate economic sanity," writes Garrett Hardin, "because our brains are addled by...compassion." With such startling assertions, Hardin has cut a swathe through the field of ecology for decades, winning a reputation as a fearless and original thinker. A prominent biologist, ecological philosopher, and keen student of human population control, Hardin now offers the finest summation of his work to date, with an eloquent argument for accepting the limits of the earth's resources--and the hard choices we must make to live within them.
In Living Within Limits, Hardin focuses on the neglected problem of overpopulation, making a forceful case for dramatically changing the way we live in and manage our world. Our world itself, he writes, is in the dilemma of the lifeboat: it can only hold a certain number of people before it sinks--not everyone can be saved. The old idea of progress and limitless growth misses the point that the earth (and each part of it) has a limited carrying capacity; sentimentality should not cloud our ability to take necessary steps to limit population. But Hardin refutes the notion that goodwill and voluntary restraints will be enough. Instead, nations where population is growing must suffer the consequences alone. Too often, he writes, we operate on the faulty principle of shared costs matched with private profits. In Hardin's famous essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons," he showed how a village common pasture suffers from overgrazing because each villager puts as many cattle on it as possible--since the costs of grazing are shared by everyone, but the profits go to the individual. The metaphor applies to global ecology, he argues, making a powerful case for closed borders and an end to immigration from poor nations to rich ones. "The production of human beings is the result of very localized human actions; corrective action must be local....Globalizing the 'population problem' would only ensure that it would never be solved." Hardin does not shrink from the startling implications of his argument, as he criticizes the shipment of food to overpopulated regions and asserts that coercion in population control is inevitable. But he also proposes a free flow of information across boundaries, to allow each state to help itself.
"The time-honored practice of pollute and move on is no longer acceptable," Hardin tells us. We now fill the globe, and we have no where else to go. In this powerful book, one of our leading ecological philosophers points out the hard choices we must make--and the solutions we have been afraid to consider.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0195093852
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195093858
  3. Edition
    First Paperback Edition
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    April 6, 1995
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    9.02 x 6.1 x 0.89 inches
  8. Print length
    352 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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"We have but one world; we should be careful with it. Anyone who agrees will love this book, whose every page is almost too full of important facts and wise arguments....Hardin has given us the altruistic 'warning call' of the prophet with a dangerous message--dangerous to give and dangerous to ignore. Somewhere he should get a genetic reward."--EES Newsletter

"A wide-rainging and eclectic presentation....It is also an excelletn resource for those teaching high school and college students about human-ecosystem interactions. In truth, this is a helpful guide for all of us as we recognize the problem of overpopulation and start learning to live within the earth's limits. With Hardin's help, perhaps we can begin to envision a sustainable future for a stable population."--Electronic Green Journal

"Living Within Limits is a sophisticated attack on immigration that spans philosophical and sociological arguments."--he Public Eye

"Garrett Hardin is...a fearless and original thinker. Living Within Limits is very welcome. Hardin is tireless in his crusade to make us face up to ecological realities, especially our seeming inability to confront the most serious long-term problem, overpopulation."--New Scientist

"This is an outstanding volume on population issues - the most important issues facing humanity today."--Payson Sheets, University of Colorado

From the Back Cover

In Living Within Limits, Hardin focuses on the neglected problem of overpopulation, making a forceful case for dramatically changing the way we live in and manage our world.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; First Paperback Edition (April 6, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195093852
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195093858
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.24 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.02 x 6.1 x 0.89 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 80 ratings

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Garrett James Hardin

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
80 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Warren G
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book about the most important issue of our time.
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2009
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I would give this book 99 stars if I could. Garrett Hardin, most famous for his essay 'The Tragedy of the Commons' (look it up on Wikipedia), intellectually evicerates anyone who would be so foolish as to think that overpopulation is NOT a problem. Nearly every human ill can be attributed to the simple phrase 'too many people and too few resources,' and Hardin attacks this issue from every angle. As a self styled 'ecological conservative' Hardin attacks both liberal democratic and traditional conservative ideology.

I thought I knew a little bit about 'real' economics until I read this book, boy was I wrong. If, like me, you thought that Freakonomics was cutting edge and savvy then you would definitely love this book. Hardin clearly has a firm grasp on what economics is actually about. He throws everything at you - natural selection, Thomas Malthus, carrying capacity, demographics, Unmanaged Commons and so much more that this book is sure to open your eyes to the growing problem around us.

The only negative thing (hence the -1 star from 100) I can say about the book is that there is little continuity or flow to it. Rather than any continuous theme, it seems more like his lecture notes stuck together in some kind of topical series. Besides that, I highly highly recommend everyone read this book - sadly though, I am a realist and know that few will (to society's detriment).

If you like this book, you will like  Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed ; or if you liked Collapse, then you will like this book.
26 people found this helpful
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Elias
4.0 out of 5 stars refreshing and well written
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2015
I would recommend this book to anybody who believes deep down that overpopulation isn't a problem. Hardin does a great job setting up his thesis with insightful analogies, such as compound interest and perpetual motion machines.

My favorite concept of the book is how taboo it is talk about overpopulation. He is right on the money! One never hears that any of the worlds problems are caused by overpopulation. Truly fascinating.

I'll admit some times I feel like he digresses and uses fluffy language, but in general it's a sophisticated take on a growing problem.
3 people found this helpful
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g miklashek
5.0 out of 5 stars Anybody else see that cement barrier dead-head?
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015
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We have NOT been living within our ecologically sustainable limits for hundreds of years, as this author so clearly shows.
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Donald Harding
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018
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Loved this book ! Garret gets to the point , with good detailed information .
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DJ712
2.0 out of 5 stars I am not as smart as some of the other people who have already ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2017
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I am not as smart as some of the other people who have already reviewed this book. I openly admit this. I'm only on Page 96 and I am dreading the next 200 pages. The author repeats himself over and over,mentions people who I've never heard of (sorry, I already said I wasn't smart) and wastes paragraph after paragraph saying almost nothing.

Thus far? All you need to know is this. Watch the movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service" Samuel L. Jackson's character 'Richmond Valentine' wants to control the world population problem as he sees it by killing off anyone who isn't rich, beautiful, powerful, and/or famous and you can save yourself the agony of reading this book. I haven't gotten there yet, but I'm sure the author is going to recommend population control in some way, shape, or form, and while extremely logical it's unrealistic.

Humans are going to reproduce, ravage the ecosystem, and think nothing of future generations for whatever cause currently consumes them be it self interest, political, or otherwise. Acting like it's going to change is nonsense.

Hey, here's another movie reference from The Matrix that will save you some time:

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

While artificial intelligence could be just around the corner, I doubt I'll see it in the next 50-years. But this quote from The Matrix and the plot of Kingsman sum up this book thus far for me.

Again, I'm stupid and I had to use movie references to make sense of it. I'll finish it, but this is a hard read for a jackass like myself.

P.S. People are still going to have sex and destroy any math and/or logic that comes into existence no matter what level of intelligence is behind population control. When you get to the "people are starving in 1949 China and ate the birds that ate the insects and screwed up the eco-system" part should you read this book, you will realize that all the logic in the world isn't going to stop self-interest. People who are starving will eat some birds, yes - the insects that don't get eaten are (were) a problem. But if you think anyone is going to starve to death to balance out the eco-system then you're nuts.

Maybe the next 200 pages will have better information, but I'm not counting on it.

05.22.17: Finally finished this thing. This was a chore. Here's some more observations from the book.

A. Homer Simpson is running every nuclear facility in the United States. The author actually infers this without bringing up Homer Simpson's name but he may as well have done so.

B. Poor people have nothing to do but reproduce.

C. Optimism and hoping for technology to improve anything for the long term is far fetched science fiction.

Again, I see the logic behind his thinking but I'll give the author credit for this: No politician is going to make population control their main point of emphasis when campaigning for a position.

I still like my two movie references above to describe this book. Planet Earth needs a lot of help and while I agree population will be - if it's not already a problem - the author doesn't do much other than point out a problem and offers very little solutions.

If you're into listening to people whine for hours upon end without providing solutions to the problem, then this book is perfect for you.
8 people found this helpful
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Otto Jacob
5.0 out of 5 stars I was surprised how well written this was. It ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2016
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I was surprised how well written this was. It has a text book content and topic, but I could hardly put it down.
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Alex Ouellet-belanger
4.0 out of 5 stars Spaceship economics and other interesting concepts.
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2007
The problem of population is one of regulating human behavior. He explains several concepts:

1- Cowboy vs spaceship economics.
2- The Malthus demostat.
3- Exponential growth at a small rate and the carrying capacity of Planet Earth
4- Our world is finite
5- There will never be a perpetual motion machine

A great thinker on ecology and human population.
3 people found this helpful
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Guppy Warior
5.0 out of 5 stars As Advertised
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2019
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Good Quality.
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Top reviews from other countries

arpit
4.0 out of 5 stars About problem of overpopulation
Reviewed in India on April 11, 2019
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The book is about problem of overpopulation and how it is causing serious harm to our world.The subject of the book is important enough to deserve 5 stars but, this small (though important) message could have been conveyed through a book 1/4th the size of this book.So giving 4 stars and not 5
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Philmore East
5.0 out of 5 stars No taboos
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2008
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I did not expect to read much new thinking - after all, the subject has been covered ad nauseam - but gave it a try based on a flattering review. And wow - some highly unconventional thinking, shattering the 'left/right' stereotypes, discussing questions (and offering answers) you would not expect from an 'ecologist'.
Fascinating, wide-ranging erudition; sharp deductive thinking; fearless debunking of myths and intellectual laziness.
A joy to read; sadly, I will have to keep most of it for myself as the contents are just too far out for politically correct dinner partners...
4 people found this helpful
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Nagarajan
3.0 out of 5 stars he has argued well from a language point of view ...
Reviewed in India on February 21, 2016
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he has argued well from a language point of view. but the argument is not conclusive...perhaps the subject itself is such that it can't be conclusive.
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