Among these notions are "carrying capacity", which is related to planetary boundaries, as discussed in chapter I, "the tragedy of the commons", which is concerned with the management of common resources, and degradation narratives that refer to environmental destruction by the poor. First, even though these notions may have been disproven by historical evidence (Ostrom, 2000; Boyce, Narain and Stanton, 2007), overpopulation paradigms project population-induced scarcities into the future. Because sustainable development takes a long-term and future-oriented view, such projections are appealing: they seem to provide insight into what lies ahead for humanity. By avoiding the political negotiation of resource use and control, competition and conflict, these paradigms can shift responsibilities away from powerful elites and vested interests onto the shoulders of the poor.