# Playing Darts with a Rembrandt - Should there be limits to what owners can do with their property?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 26, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611 "2009-09-26T02:32:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611/21 "2009-09-29T17:38:07Z")

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In theory, the concept of private property provides incentives against the pointless destruction of valuable items, by the very fact that they are valuable. Most people, when confronted with the choice of selling the Rembrandt for thousands of dollars or destroying it for nothing, will opt for the money. There presumably are indeed some lunatics, thrill-seekers, and nihilists who would choose destruction for its own sake, but would these people be deterred by the possibility of a jail sentence?

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611/22 "2009-10-01T23:42:18Z")

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Nihilism will be the death of us all.

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611/23 "2009-10-02T16:08:04Z")

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How this thread has gotten this far without reference to [this scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK4jO80rmc0), I don’t know.

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**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-darts-with-a-rembrandt-should-there-be-limits-to-what-owners-can-do-with-their-property/511611/24 "2009-10-02T20:59:58Z")

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> [@gaffa](#):
>
> My Google-fu fails me, but there have been many examples of stamp collectors buying additional copies of a particular rare stamp…and burning them to increase the rarity of their original. It’s not a Rembrandt, but then I’m not a philatelist. I can still think the guy who did it is a piece of shit.

Totally seconded.

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