The term used to describe the ethical theory that when a resource held in common is freely accessible without regulation, individuals will naturally try to maximize their own benefit to the detriment of the shared community resource is called the "tragedy of the commons." This concept explains that when many people have unfettered access to a finite, valuable resource, such as grazing land or fisheries, they tend to overuse it, ultimately depleting or destroying the resource. Each individual acts in their own self- interest, gaining the full benefit of their exploitation, while the costs of overuse are shared by the entire community, leading to the resource's degradation

. The term was popularized by ecologist Garrett Hardin in a 1968 essay titled "The Tragedy of the Commons," although the idea dates back to earlier economic discussions by William Forster Lloyd in 1833

. Hardin illustrated this with the example of common grazing lands, where individual herders add more livestock to maximize personal gain, resulting in overgrazing and depletion of the pasture

. Thus, the "tragedy of the commons" captures the ethical and economic dilemma where individual rational actions lead to collective irrational outcomes, harming the shared resource and community welfare.