DOC PREVIEW
UCSB ENVS 106 - Lecture 11 Thinking in Systems Chapter 5_POST

This preview shows page 1-2-19-20 out of 20 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 20 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 20 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 20 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 20 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 20 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

Slide 1Chapter 5: System Traps… and OpportunitiesPolicy Resistance: ExamplesSlide 4The Tragedy of the CommonsPollution as a TragedySlide 7Drift to Low PerformanceEscalationSlide 10Competitive ExclusionCompetitive ExclusionShifting the Burden to the IntervenorShifting the Burden to the Intervenor: Important QuestionsShifting the Burden to the IntervenorRule BeatingRule BeatingSeeking the Wrong GoalAgainst GNP (or GDP)Seeking the Wrong GoalExtra Credit OpportunityMark your Calendars!For more than three decades and in more than a dozen books, Professor Robert D. Bullard has documented that healthy places and healthy people are highly correlated. The poorest of the poor within the United States have the worst health and live in the most degraded environments. Bullard’s lecture explores how the environment justice framework redefined environmentalism and challenged institutional racism and the dominant environmental protection paradigm.Chapter 5: System Traps… and OpportunitiesPolicy Resistance: Examples•Population Increase in Romania: Outlaw AbortionsIncreased illegal, underground abortionsTripled maternal mortality rateIncreased Orphan Population•Drug Supply on the StreetsSupply ShiftUnintended consequencesSimilar Stability in SupplyAbortion is a tricky political and ethical issue even today in our society, but outlawing it did have these unintended consequences.Policy ResistanceWhen various actors try to pull a system stock toward various goals, the result can be policy resistance. Any new policy, especially if it’s effective, just pulls the stock farther from the goals of other actors and produces additional resistance, with a result that no one likes, but that everyone expends considerable eff ort in maintaining.The Way Out of the TrapLet go. Bring in all the actors and use the energy formerly expended on resistance to seek out mutually satisfactory ways for all goals to be realized—or redefinitions of larger and more important goals that everyone can pull toward together.The Tragedy of the CommonsHerdsman share a plot of land, a “common” areaWhat is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?1. I get the value of one more animalThe overall common area is degraded due to overuse (ever so slightly)2. Everyone shares the degradation/overuse of the land+1Pollution as a Tragedy•Your contribution to the overall problem is lowReducing or eliminating your contribution is somewhat costlyRiding a bike takes more time and effortCarpooling takes time and coordinationDriving a less polluting car gets you mocked by your family•The harm from the overall problem is highThe Tragedy of the CommonsWhen there is a commonly shared resource, every user benefits directly from its use, but shares the costs of its abuse with everyone else. Therefore, there is very weak feedback from the condition of the resource to the decisions of the resource users. The consequence is overuse of the resource, eroding it until it becomes unavailable to anyone.The Way Out of the TrapEducate and exhort the users, so they understand the consequences of abusing the resource. And also restore or strengthen the missing feedback link, either by privatizing the resource so each user feels the direct consequences of its abuse or (since many resources cannot be privatized) by regulating the access of all users to the resource.Drift to Low Performance•Allowing performance standards to be influenced by past performance, especially if there is a negative bias in perceiving past performance, sets up a reinforcing feedback loop of eroding goals that sets a system drifting toward low performance.Perceived state vs. Desired State: Perceived state can negatively feed back into desired stateBoiled frog exampleThe Way Out•Keep performance standards absolute. Even better, let standards be enhanced by the best actual performances instead of being discouraged by the worst. Use the same structure to set up a drift toward high performance!Escalation•The Arms RacePositive reinforcing feedbackIncreasing CostsIncreasing Risk of War•AdvertisingMore chaosNeed to tunnel through get to consumersKids Age 2-11 see an average of 25,000+ television advertisements per yearEscalationWhen the state of one stock is determined by trying to surpass the state of another stock—and vice versa—then there is a reinforcing feedback loop carrying the system into an arms race, a wealth race, a smear campaign, escalating loudness, escalating violence. The escalation is exponential and can lead to extremes surprisingly quickly. If nothing is done, the spiral will be stopped by someone’s collapse—because exponential growth cannot go on forever.The Way Out of the TrapThe best way out of this trap is to avoid getting in it. If caught in an escalating system, one can refuse to compete (unilaterally disarm), thereby interrupting the reinforcing loop. Or one can negotiate a new system with balancing loops to control the escalation.Competitive Exclusion•Ecology: Find a niche, get ahead, and exclude other species from accessing it. Exclusion can lead to extinction•Society: “Poor kids who do everything right don’t do better than rich kids who do everything wrong”America is the land of opportunity, just for some more than others.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/18/poor-kids-who-do-everything-right-dont-do-better-than-rich-kids-who-do-everything-wrong/From the ArticleSpecifically, rich high school dropouts remain in the top about as much as poor college grads stay stuck in the bottom — 14 versus 16 percent, respectively. Not only that, but these low-income strivers are just as likely to end up in the bottom as these wealthy ne'er-do-wells. Some meritocracy.What's going on? Well, it's all about glass floors and glass ceilings. Rich kids who can go work for the family business — and, in Canada at least, 70 percent of the sons of the top 1 percent do just that — or inherit the family estate don't need a high school diploma to get ahead. It's an extreme example of what economists call "opportunity hoarding." That includes everything from legacy college admissions to unpaid internships that let affluent parents rig the game a little more in their children's favor.Competitive Exclusion•If the winners of a competition are systematically rewarded with the means to win again, a reinforcing feedback loop is created by which, if it is allowed to


View Full Document
Download Lecture 11 Thinking in Systems Chapter 5_POST
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Lecture 11 Thinking in Systems Chapter 5_POST and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Lecture 11 Thinking in Systems Chapter 5_POST 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?