I really really like this essay but have one problem with it. You do consider the all important principle of balance but in practical terms I see one problem. "As for inheritance, if you have created and not consumed value, why should you not be allowed to pass that ‘unconsumed value’ to your descendants?" IMO large inheritances should not happen. Maybe $10 Million but past that there is no benefit to the descendants and very often it is a danger. Inheritances almost never last more than three generations because the creativity of the founder of the fortune can never be passed on to the grand children and instead the wealth just goes to entities (lawyers and accountants) more interested in preserving the fortune than creating with it. It needs to be recycled back into the society or there is no balance and you just create power nodes that compete with the interests of the society.