  The free rider problem and the logic of collective action have been recognized in specific contexts for millennia. Arguably, Glaucon in Plato’s Republic (bk. 2, 360b–c) sees the logic in his argument against obedience to the law if only one can escape sanction for violations. First-time readers of Plato are often astonished that dear old Socrates seems not to get the logic but insists that it is our interest to obey the law independently of the incentive of its sanctions.