The New York Times science section had a big article on Egalitarianism the other day. It was all about how man's idea's of fairness is unique in the animal kingdom (or sets us apart from animals for you Creationists among us)..
I think their example is that you never see two chimps lugging a log around together. It was a very interesting story on how across cultures (from Western people to aboriginal tribes), man has an embedded sense of fairness. This is built upon shared ideals AND value of work. That is, we tend to believe that people that work harder (or are blessed with more muscles - say) have a right to proportionally more. But not a right to lock out others from their work. it is a unique balance.
.
It obviously implies that current CEO compensation is wildly out of wack and unsustainable - but never talks to that at all. But it does talk about wealth distribution and what it does in terms of societal stability.
.
It is interesting.