how could society assert its interest in cultural property over the interest of an individual?

Question

economics

Answer 1

Through elected government(s).

One of the basic purposes of government, from an economist's viewpoint, is to make the necessary transfers of resources when the interests of a group of people as a whole cannot be effectively expressed through the market. For example, we in London are all interested in decongested roads. But there is nothing any of us can do to buy non-congestion. (For long-distance travel this is not true. The rich can buy an aeroplane, and the fairly rich can buy a % of an executive jet.) So we elected a mayor who imposed a congestion charge on all of us. The charge prices people off the roads onto public transport and/or off the busy hours onto the quieter hours.

Same principle can be applied to cultural property, whatever that is.

Answer 2

Why would you want to? It's the people that determine a culture.

Answer 3

Only by limiting individual rights. I don't know how that can be any good.
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