<p>I offer an account of a problem with derogatory speech, along with means for preventing this problem, rooted in considerations of a speaker’s self-interest. The framework of this analysis is Garrett Hardin’s famous discussion of the “tragedy of the commons” (1968). This so-called tragedy is a collective action problem that arises when the benefits but not the full costs associated with the use of a shared and limited resource accrue to individuals. I argue that a wide range of our interests depends, directly or indirectly, on a healthy communicative environment. This means that speakers need cooperative listeners to satisfy these interests. The psychological prerequisites of people being apt audience members for one’s speech are the collective resource that constitutes the communicative commons. All forms of derogatory speech pose a risk to these psychological prerequisites, and hence to the satisfaction of the relevant interests. I conclude by suggesting coercive and educational measures for warding off erosion of these psychological resources.</p>