“There is a substantial philosophical literature on such topics that I will not wade into, and I believe such non-value-based arguments can be mapped onto value-based arguments with minimal loss (e.g., not having a duty to make happy people can be mapped onto there being no value in making happy people).”
Duty to accomplish X implies much more than an assessment of the value of X. To lack the (moral, legal, or ethical) obligation to bring about a state of affairs does not imply a sense that the state of affairs has no value to you or others.
You wrote
“There is a substantial philosophical literature on such topics that I will not wade into, and I believe such non-value-based arguments can be mapped onto value-based arguments with minimal loss (e.g., not having a duty to make happy people can be mapped onto there being no value in making happy people).”
Duty to accomplish X implies much more than an assessment of the value of X. To lack the (moral, legal, or ethical) obligation to bring about a state of affairs does not imply a sense that the state of affairs has no value to you or others.