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Life

Fair play: Monkeys share our sense of injustice

By Frans De Waal

11 November 2009

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

It’s not fair! Gimme that food

(Image: Pete Oxford/Minden Pictures/FLPA)

HOW often have you seen rich people take to the streets, shouting that they’re earning too much? No, I thought not. Protesters are typically blue-collar workers yelling that the minimum wage has to go up, or that their jobs shouldn’t go overseas. Lately, however, we have been hearing a new chorus, exclaiming that none of those fat cats on Wall Street or the City should be compensated for bad behaviour. No golden parachutes for those greedy bloodsuckers!

Concern about fairness is always asymmetrical (stronger in the poor than the rich),…

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