>There are many cultures that consider children to have certain filial obligations (and some states in the US still have such laws), you might consider that wro

>There are many cultures that consider children to have certain filial obligations (and some states in the US still have such laws), you might consider that wrong, but it's not self-evident that it is. >There are also situations where the law considers continued enjoyment of some good or service to create an obligation to pay for that good or service regardless of whether the person enjoying it requested it in the first place. I don't think this is self-evidently wrong either. As I said previously, at least for me, believing that the non-aggression principle should be the governing principle of society is a utopian view. That is, to say, it is a hope of what society could be, not a pragmatic solution that could be implemented today or tomorrow. Similarly, anyone who holds any concept of a utopian society likely recognizes they will never see it come to fruition but they hope to move things in that direction. >but I no longer feel that allocating wealth based purely on the circumstances of birth (because let's face it, an individual's ability to make money is based almost entirely on the circumstances of their birth.) is the best system. But this is a mis-characterization of what capitalism is. Some of the most poor people of the world today face the exact lifestyle that nearly everyone faced a few hundred years ago. It was only through capitalism, existing sometimes in a very limited fashion, which fueled the industrial revolution and enabled those of us who are so rich to enjoy our lifestyles today (and let's face it even the poorest of any first world country, are vastly rich compared to living conditions a few hundred years ago). >But I've increasingly realized there are also time when capitalism reaches a local optimum. And I don't think we should let ideology blind us to that. I would be curious to hear what situation you would describe as capitalism reaching a "local optimum". In my experience, every situation categorized as a "market failure", when investigated, is anything but. That goes for the idea of "natural monopolies", recent market crashes, skyrocketing tuition, skyrocketing medical costs, pollution, etc. I would be happy to point you to material to research any one of these issues.