You miss the key: a huge amount of my value is generated by tools created by our ancestors -- who deserves credit for those tools? Me? Those dead people's children?
You argument hints at something called labor theory of value, which quickly leads to contradictions, once you include time and technological progress into your models (such as people should get more for labor even if they are doing less of it).
Honestly, I think if people are honest to themselves, they will see that there is plenty of stuff providing value for free (a simple example - tree that grows apples). Then asking to be paid just for your merit is obviously a losing proposition.