Conscience is Self-Eliminating

A major downfall of many systems involving human cooperation, is that when those individuals who remove themselves from contention for the resource as a moral objection of its abuse, the overall effect is losing a responsible user and gaining at least one more who is less responsible.

The relevant scenario might be, if the people who ‘realize’ there are too many surfers already out surf less, we would end up with a higher percentage of surfers who don’t care, resource would be damaged because we would have more clueless users.

If you’re in a crowded surf and disapprove at more coming in, does that also mean you’d do the same and decide not to surf faced with the same sized crowd pre-paddle out?

Freedom to Breed is Intolerable

Proliferation of surfing crowds or ‘breeding’ is one of the biggest perceived threats by your average local surfer, to the current set of liberties he or she enjoys.

Rather than be openly and directly against beginners directly in the process, (as Hardin himself said, ‘Most people who anguish over the population problem are trying to avoid the evils of overpopulation without relinquishing any of the privileges they currently enjoy’), which has economic implications to a lot of local surfers involved in the industry, retail, surf schools, tourism, etc., over the years, surfing has instead has made the act of being a beginner socially undesirable.

Hence, the kook. A novice is simply a non-surfer giving it a go, while a novice actually attempting to become a surfer is a kook, and a threat.

The kook, as the most recent to breed (the newest comer) is the most visible target in expressing dissatisfaction with expanding crowds.

Outward effects of this concept are seen in the frowning, scowling, tough guy local attitude you can see evidence of in almost any popular surf town anywhere. Bad vibes, ‘don’t surf here’ kind of thing.

While only a relative minority of similarly-minded individuals might ever speak out or act directly, the pervading vibe is, ‘Don’t feel like it’s OK for you to come and surf here.’

 The ultimate irony of this attitude is that, everywhere in the world outside of Hawaii, the sport was brought to your coast, relatively recently.

In Europe, that’s in the last 40-50 years max (less in most places), bearing in mind your coast in its current geological form is probably at least several hundred thousand years old.

Therefore, if it wasn’t for foreign travelling surfers heading away from their local coasts to surf elsewhere, you and I would never have ridden a wave in our lives.

To take that one step further, places where surfing is considered intrinsically part of the local culture itself in Europe requires denial of the last several centuries/millennia of local history when it wasn’t.

If you’re from Britain, France, Spain or Portugal, after some five centuries of post Renaissance engineering, sea-faring and global exploration, as well as the widespread pursuit of sports and leisure, no one ever thought to stand on a surfboard and ride a wave until some American and/or Australians, themselves given the sport by the Hawaii’s Duke Kahanamoku showed them how, when and where.

To put that in perspective, if you’re a hardy, salt-blooded, ‘it’s-in-my-DNA’ local from anywhere in Europe, as in, Hossegor, Canaries, Basque Country, Devon or wherever, there are people alive today running the London marathon who predate surfing at your local break by several decades.