This might be heavy going.

In 1968 a guy called Garrett Hardins wrote an essay entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons". Although I came across the Essay in the mid '80s, the premise of the essay is more relevant that ever.
The essay demonstrates that when natural resources are held in common, freely available to everyone for the taking, the incentives that normally direct human activity lead people to steadily increase their exploitation of the resources until they are inadequate to meet human needs. The exploiters generally do not intend to cause any harm; they are merely taking care of their own needs, or others in want. Nevertheless, the entire system moves to disaster. Everyone in the world shares in the resulting tragedy of the commons.

Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis

In case anyone has any funny ideas about me, I am a carnivore that owns a chainsaw, proud owner actually. A Stihl 032 AV, an old yoke but with years of dutiful care and use, its rasp is as sharp as new. I didn't buy it, it was given to me by one of the most intelligent people I have ever come across. He lived back in the time before the Celtic Tiger gobbled up land close to villages and towns, ravaging farm incomes where it went.

Sitting down to write this column with the savage barbarity of Bestlan still being vomited through every media orifice stifles me from task, thought or word, I don’t feel like writing, what’s the point……
Well there is a point, there has to be. Time is a wonderful factor; in actuality there is a two-day gap from the end of the last paragraph to the beginning of this one. I haven’t rationalised events in the Russian town of Bestlan, there is no concept of rationality that can be applied. Are the terrorists’ actions the result of some other unspeakable atrocity that didn’t make it to the international news networks? Or is it a case of terror groups (or freedom fighters depending on your perspective), trying to out-terror each other?