I agree that there are many situations where joining a group gives you access to more resources than it costs. My point is that, in some cases, you might not ha

I agree that there are many situations where joining a group gives you access to more resources than it costs. My point is that, in some cases, you might not have the resources to pay the costs, even if you could recoup them later. For example, it might cost only a small amount of gas money to attend a group that provides mentorship. If you don't have that money, you can't attend, even if that mentorship would lead to a job that gives you a huge return on your time and gas money.