The benefits may not be worth it for a given individual to seek membership in a given ring, but at least some of them are NOT illusory. Also, I don’t agree that one gives up one’s interests or loses economic rationality in seeking to join some inner rings.
In fact, I suspect there’s a fair bit of variance in the costs to join, making this just another case of signaling—showing that you can afford to join an inner ring indicates that you’re either quite powerful and can afford it, or that you’re fairly aligned with the ring and it doesn’t cost you much.
The benefits may not be worth it for a given individual to seek membership in a given ring, but at least some of them are NOT illusory. Also, I don’t agree that one gives up one’s interests or loses economic rationality in seeking to join some inner rings.
In fact, I suspect there’s a fair bit of variance in the costs to join, making this just another case of signaling—showing that you can afford to join an inner ring indicates that you’re either quite powerful and can afford it, or that you’re fairly aligned with the ring and it doesn’t cost you much.