Yes, and the contributions from those parents were so valuable that the society still owes them, even long after their death. That's why we pay our dues to their children and grandchildren.
> Yes, and the contributions from those parents were so valuable that the society still owes them, even long after their death. That's why we pay our dues to their children and grandchildren.
You're ascribing a level of agreement with your opinions about who deserves what level of credit people deserve for results that are far beyond the scope of a single person to vast swaths of people who have no power to contest the system that has existed for so long that no one alive created. The reason I "pay my dues" to the grandchildren of random rich people from 100 years ago is not because I owe them but because there's literally nothing I can do to avoid it regardless of how plausible I find the extreme opinion you're confidently asserting is some sort of self-evident fact.
Sorry, why would society owe their children? Where does this obligation come from? You're making a leap here that doesn't make sense.
Also, it's not sharing with society that makes people billionaires, it's taking from society. Had all that profit gone to society, they wouldn't be billionaires. Now often (not always) they provide some value to society but that generates that profit, but quite often even that was based on taking from society. They take natural resources to exploit, monopolise a market, exploit workers, etc.
You might be living inside a philosophy book about capitalism. Do you know about the existence of Russian oligarchs and their offspring? Or Texan billionaires that one day woke up and found out they were living on top of oil? What contribution did they give to society?
Well, I can give you Russian oligarchs - they came to their wealth during time of chaos, and mostly through stealing. But Texan oil billionaires? They won their wealth fair and square, if not for anything else then for just recognizing an opportunity and acting on it. Believe me, there are many people in this world who would blew it in stupid ways.
I won't even argue about Texans even though you're wrong there, but since you accepted Russian oligarchs as a problem with this world view that having money = having contributed to society then I'm not sure what else to say. You already admit this model doesn't work as a proxy to merit in the case of using force and connections.
Take another example, someone who won a lottery vs someone who hasn't, but otherwise lived the same life, in your world view one deserves it and the other doesn't. And their their offspring forever on as well? If you accept this now your list of exceptions is using force, connections and also luck. But we can keep adding examples and exceptions to the rule until at some point you need to admit that way of looking at the world is too flawed, no? BTW this luck aspect is the same as the "Texan got a knock on the door offering them millions forever because they have oil under their house" so I guess I did end up re-arguing that.
You're ascribing a level of agreement with your opinions about who deserves what level of credit people deserve for results that are far beyond the scope of a single person to vast swaths of people who have no power to contest the system that has existed for so long that no one alive created. The reason I "pay my dues" to the grandchildren of random rich people from 100 years ago is not because I owe them but because there's literally nothing I can do to avoid it regardless of how plausible I find the extreme opinion you're confidently asserting is some sort of self-evident fact.