> People believing that they are owed 20x the income of someone else because they are smarter than them is pretty insane on its face but does seem to be compatible to some extent with social stability.

Idk if "owed" is the right word here, and I disagree that the disparity is from being "smarter". There are plenty of people with high analytical intelligence that are not paid very much. Think about how poorly some very smart academics are often compensated.

Maybe I'm being reductive but it seems more simply that the disparity is based on "how much leverage/influence do you have over those with the money".