The essence of a tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides on the solemnity of the remorseless working of things.
Alfred Whitehead
I just read the working separation draft submitted by the Freeport Withdrawal Committee. I was impressed by the continued rise to prominence of self-interest. Garret Hardin in Science magazine (1968) described a typical self-interest problem in an article, “Tragedy of the Commons.” The tragedy develops this way.
Picture a pasture open to all. The commons is open for all herdsmen to graze their livestock. Such an arrangement works reasonably well for centuries because tribal war, poaching and disease keep the number of man and beasts well below the carrying capacity of the pasture. Finally comes the day of reckoning, a moment of social stability.
As rational beings, each herdsman seeks to maximize his self-interest. He asks: Is it in my self-interest to add one more animal to the herd? Since the herdsman receives all the proceeds from the eventual sale of the animal, his self-interest is +1. However, that new animal contributes to the inevitable overgrazing of the commons. Because all the herdsmen share the effects of this overgrazing, the negative self-interest is only a fraction of 1 for the herdsman. Herdsmen are good at math. They see the advantage of adding to their herd. The community shares the negative implications of overgrazing. The tragedy of the commons comes as the cows overgraze the commons, depleting the resource until it is useless for all. Without a commitment to self-regulation, self-interest becomes the essence of a tragedy.
Education is the commons of RSU 5. Public education is the social good in which the largest number of people benefit in the largest possible way. The withdrawal group has determined that it is in their self-interest to wrest Freeport away from the social good. Perhaps the withdrawal group should ask the students of Freeport High what the students think about social good, about social justice. In my experience as a high school teacher and social worker, students are so beyond the adults in their ability to accommodate difference, to celebrate diversity of ideas. The power of public education is the commons, where diverse ideas and imaginations are exchanged. It’s hard to imagine that “self-interest” demonstrated in the withdrawal movement is the value that parents of Freeport want their children to aspire toward.
Durham, Pownal and Freeport are vibrant communities that value education and demonstrate that through their support of their students and schools. There is no doubt that there are clear differences in fiscal matters among the three towns. I understand that it is hard not getting your own way. But the solemnity of the remorseless working of things is happening; go to any meeting. As you listen, consider the commons before you are swayed by self-interest.
Jon Morris
Pownal
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