Why Goats Owned in Common Always Starve

Instapundit Glenn Reynolds in USA Today:

According to a West African proverb, "a goat owned in common always starves." This pithy phrase captures a key truth of human behavior: People are a lot better about taking care of things that belong to them than they are about taking care of things that don't.

That's a lesson that applies to more than goats. At the beach place where I'm staying right now, there are some "community" bicycles. They're "free," in the sense that the cost is just built into your rent, so that it doesn't cost any more to use them a lot than to use them a little.

Read the whole thing—and why it matters to the current moment.