Nepal, Nov. 10 -- In his 1968 essay titled Tragedy of the Commons, ecologist Garrett Hardin discussed how individualistic human behaviour, pursuing self-interest without social and ecological considerations, will ultimately starve the planet of its scarce resources and bring a collective end to civilisations. Over the past decades, the metaphor has found its place across various academic disciplines, with economists and environmentalists using it to theorise and underscore the need for a sustainable co-existence. This piece attempts to use the same metaphor to explain how the unretiring Nepali leaders have over-exploited the political capital accumulated by their predecessors, leaving the next-in-line leaders high and dry.

The Nepali Con...