[kqr]

The premise of the question was "in an egalitarian society, what prevents someone from appropriating much of a resource and converting their possession to power?"

You seem to be approaching the question "in a hierarchical society, what makes it impossible for small bands of people to overpower the entire system all at once?" which is an interesting question, but a very different one.

[DarylZero]

Well, the premise is that there are 40 guards guarding one person's wealth -- which is a hierarchy. The guards are below, the wealthy person is above. And you were talking about what keeps them in their place rather than taking over from below.

I'm just saying that underling guards in general don't actually need to believe in the narrative the guarded elite uses as self-justification. Maybe they do believe it, maybe they feel obligated to pretend to believe, maybe it's all naked self-interest... regardless, what really keeps them in their position is the grid of power/interest.