The tragedy of the commons is an economics theory by Garrett Hardin, according to which individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each one's self-interest, behave contrary to the whole group's long-term best interests by depleting some common resource.

Intuitively, this seems correct that self-interest would lead to overuse under the assumption that others would do the same.

Have there been any strong counter-theories that argue that people would act in a "sub-optimal" way for the betterment of the community?

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As you implied the tragedy of the commons was the standard theory in Economics This is no longer the ... View the full answer