Lifeboat Ethics Summary

Pretty Place Going to Waste
In Garrett Hardin’s “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor” he describes a sight that we all encounter sometimes daily. Hardin calls this the “tragedy of the commons”. The “tragedy of the commons”, is the idea that citizens are ruining aspects of the community that belong to everyone through their lack of care. This could be playgrounds, parks, historical sites, etc. Downtown Hot Springs fully embodies this concept. Downtown Hot Springs is home to murals, The Arlington, and The Promenade. All of which have been subject to mistreatment and neglect. Downtown Hot Springs is a beautiful landmark that is shared with tourists and the people who live here, but the lack of care towards this landmark make it …show more content…
People simply go here to take strolls and enjoy nature, but others come to cause distress which is a safety issue. This threatening behavior is most common, when there is little security present, and if their is poor lighting. Both of which are the case for The Promenade. Similar to the solution for maintaining the quality of the murals, security could be hired to monitor The Promenade. This would allow citizens to feel more at ease, and discourage criminal acts from taking place on this beautiful nature trail. If security was not hired due to funding not being sufficient, then at the very least lighting could improve. The lighting on The Promenade is almost nonexistent after nine at night. This causes the area to be much less safe for tourist and citizens of Hot Springs. I have heard first-hand accounts of fights and gang related activities taking place on The Promenade late at night, and I am confident that this is due largely to the fact that the lighting on the trail is not sufficient for creating a safe environment. If somehow Hot Springs could come up with the funding for improving the lighting, then people would feel safe to be on The Promenade much later, and would be able to better enjoy their downtown experience. Another major deterrent that has been plaguing The Promenade is that of litter. This could be coupled with the poor lighting, and lack of security. It could be argued that if we had more security, or better lighting downtown after dark, that the litter would be less numerous than what it is now. One solution for this litter problem is that of group volunteer groups. Just recently, downtown Hot Springs held an event in which participants walked to raise awareness for Alzheimer's. This event was largely successful and raised an abundance of money toward charities that are