Hardin begins by stating that the world in its present state is best thought of as a collection of lifeboats [nations], some of which are overcrowded and under-equipped and others which are well equipped and carry no more passengers than is safe. His essay is concerned with how those in the wealthy boats ought to act toward those in the poorer ones. Should they let them all board the boat, allowing it to sink? "Perfect justice, perfect catastrophe", says Hardin. Should they allow a few to board and jettison their safety margin or allow no-one to board and protect their own interests? Hardin favours the latter option and argues against the wisdom of immigration and of food aid programs.
Hardin adds to his lifeboat metaphor statistics concerning reproduction which show that those in the poorer countries are reproducing at a rate which means their population doubles, on average, every thirty-five years; those in the richer countries are doubling every eighty-seven. These statistics are used by Hardin to reject the possibility of a rich country, say the U.S., pooling its resources with some of the poorer countries on the basis that, if population trends continue much as they are, each American would have to share their available resources with at least eight other people; a burden too great to be supported. .
Next, Hardin outlines what he calls "the tragedy of the commons". He illustrates this by asking us to imagine a pasture privately owned and farmed by a single farmer who will allow no more cattle to graze there than its capacity justifies, lest it be ruined by erosion. Next we are asked to picture a pasture that is open to all and in which the right to use the pasture is not met with a duty to protect and maintain it. Only one selfish farmer would be enough to ruin the system and, Hardin says, in a world populated by imperfect humans this ruin is inevitable.
Hardin sees the World Food Bank program as another sort of commons with consequences that will be deleterious to both the recipients of aid and those who give it.
