Free riders in America is a big issue and is a problem. Free ride occurs when one enjoys a public good in many cases without having to pay for the benefits derived from the same. This would then mean that the good or service suffers under-provision in the process and tentatively lead to market failure. Free rides occur because many people fail to come clean on their various preferences to a public good and if anything when the government calls upon them many will always pledge support but rarely will they contribute because either way the public good provision is something that must take place. This therefore means that whether people contribute or not their entitlement to the public good remains creating a situation where free riders take advantage of the public good costing the government and others who directly contribute for the public good ( Flynn, 2018) . Ideally the argument is that the government will always find a way of providing the public good whether people contribute or not and because such goods have non-exclusivity as one of their characteristic in one way or the other they will always encourage free riders in the country. The underproduction of the goods thus occurs because the goods are non-rival and there is no way one can prevent others from consuming the goods based on contribution ( Hindriks & Myles, 2013) . Those who use the goods without contributing are the free riders and the act is what we call free ride. Free rides mostly occur in the public sector and especially with the projects and goods that emanate from the government. A good example is the issue of street lights in any city in the country. While the government may call on the people to contribute for such a project, many may fail to contribute but still use the street lights anyway as it is practically impossible to control how people use things like street lights.
There are many problems that emanate from free rides in America as a country and the world over however they all lead to what many refer to as the tragedy of commons where shared resources suffer overconsumption at any given time with little regard from those concerned. The three specific problems that this paper seeks to address are riding on the efforts of others, non-excludability issues, and neglect of responsibility that has everything to do with the non-rivalry nature of the free ride goods and services in the world.
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There are many instances where free riders rely on the efforts of others and especially when dealing with issues of public goods and services. This is something that many citizens have mastered over the years and this makes the government to rely lay a heavy burden on a few individuals when the rest find it easy in the society. A good example is on the issue of littering and the production of landfill rubbish as the government seeks to improve sanitation. There are millions of residents that continue to increase the amount of landfill rubbish although there are a few who have put structures in their homes and houses to reduce the same. The difference therefore is very little and many are the times that people find an incentive to ride on the efforts of others on issues of recycling while making less efforts on their own. This situation is quite common with many showing support for recycling and production of less landfill rubbish while in reality they are simply free riding on the efforts of others ( Erikson, 2015) . One of the best way to deal with reliance on the efforts of others resulting in free rides is through privatization. This would means that the citizens have to pay to access some services especially when it comes to issues of landfill rubbish. The government should privatize the collection of rubbish such that each and every individual is charged according to the amount of rubbish produced as well as the type ( McConnell et. al., 2015) . The government would then be able to enhance recycling and reduce landfill rubbish as many would strive to produce less so as to pay less thus in reality no one will free ride as is the case where everyone pays equally and even others do not pay at all.
Non-excludability issues arising from public goods is one of the major problems that the government faces when it comes to dealing with free riders in America. This is the inability to stop anyone from using a service or a good more so if the same is a public resource ( Kaplow, 2008) . The national defense for example in any country is a national good and thus free riders will always use it regardless as the soldiers work to protect the country regardless. This means that the government and well-wishers will always support the defense forces but there are still those citizens who benefit from the same but do not pay any cent. To curb this problem and cater for the cost of non-excludability and avert issues of free rides the government must come up with a way in which many consumers should be treated as one and then the cost is divided equally among them. The cost of maintaining the defense force for instant should then form part of the taxes that Americans pay and in this way no one will free ride in the country. If the amount in question is spread across the population equally then no one will free ride as it a government policy and requirement that all must pay taxes and failure to do so or even evade is a crime ( Murphy & Nagel, 2005) . The government should thus be hard on tax evaders and follow up so that all pay for the defense force. This approach may not please everyone but in many instances most people will pay their taxes.
The other main problem with free riders in America is that of neglect of responsibility as many argue that since the public goods are non-rival in nature. This means that if one person uses a public good then there is no reduction for the next user and so many people will not care about how they use the goods and thus free ride on the same ( Kemp, 2002) . To deal with issues of neglect of responsibility and non-rivalry in free riding any government must come up policies and guidelines that govern various public assets and resources. A good example is on marine businesses like fishing there are many a times when some scrupulous fishermen will make a kills when other responsible fishermen have left the fish to increase. This then means while others sacrifice others will continue fishing to make more money in the process. The government in such instances should introduce special licenses for specific species of fish to avoid their depletion that is because of irresponsible fishermen. Things like museums and gardens should have entrance fees payable by the public even if they are public so that the responsibility of maintaining the same is not just left for a few individuals in a country where there are millions of people ( Stout, 2011) . In this way people will start being responsible and the issue of free riders will thus be history.
Free rides in America is something that is difficult to deal with and although the government remains to be the sole solution provider to the same, there is need for the citizens to change their attitudes towards free things. Many of the problems of free riders are subject to attitudes. It is practically impossible to exclude people from public goods but it is important that people become responsible in paying taxes while at the same time supporting the continuous provision of public goods without having selfish personal interests ( Kishtainy, 2018) .
References
Erikson, E. (2015). Chartering capitalism: Organizing markets, states, and publics . Bingley: Emerald.
Flynn, S. M. (2018). Economics . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Hindriks, J., & Myles, G. D. (2013). Intermediate public economics . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kaplow, L. (2008). The theory of taxation and public economics . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kemp, S. (2002). Public goods and private wants: A psychological approach to government spending . Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Pub.
Kishtainy, N. (2018). The economics book . New York: DK Publishing.
McConnell, C. R., Brue, S. L., & Flynn, S. M. (2015). Macroeconomics: Principles, problems, and policies . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Murphy, L. B., & Nagel, T. (2005). The myth of ownership: Taxes and justice . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stout, L. A. (2011). Cultivating conscience: How good laws make good people . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
