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Because no sane person believes that for instance Barrack Obama speech at some random finance gathering is worth a million dollars to pay for. There is no tangi

Because no sane person believes that for instance Barrack Obama speech at some random finance gathering is worth a million dollars to pay for. There is no tangible value in such a person saying some random platitudes for a few minutes. Especially when he is not in the office anymore. It's just clever, deferred payment for the favors he did when he was still in power. How can't you see for what it truly is??

dr_dshiv 3y ago
https://www.thoughtco.com/former-presidents-speaking-fees-3368127 https://www.thoughtco.com/former-presidents-speaking-fees-33... I really doubt there is a quid pro quo here — “I’ll help you out now in exchange for paying me off after I’m done with the presidency” The value is like the value of any high-end brand — it makes one look powerful.
- pi-e-sigma 3y ago
  You are powerful because you _have to_ pay a _former_ president to be at your venue? It screams the opposite, actually. Because if you were really powerful you wouldn't need to pay for that. And it would be a sitting president, not the former one with no actual power anymore.
  - phatfish 3y ago
    There is nothing special about most rich/powerful people (there are those that are genuinely exceptional of course and built a fortune because of that), they want the same things as "normal" people just on a different level. Why does some generic reality TV celebrity or "influencer" make money from showing up at a party or turning on some Xmas lights? Surely no one really cares, there are 1000s of reality TV stars. But, it turns out some people do care, so cookie-cutter reality TV celebrity gets paid to turn up. In "high net worth" (for want of a better term) social circles ex-Presidents are the reality TV celebrities, and the people who want them to turn up are rich, so they get paid a lot for the equivalent of turning on the Xmas lights. I suspect its not really about the speech, it's about having them in the same room and giving your guests the chance at a face-to-face meeting. Of course Obama may be more discerning with which events he attends, but the demand for people like him to turn up is certainly real.
    - pi-e-sigma 3y ago
      If you are handsome you don't need to pay chicks cash for them to shop up to the dinner. Analogously if you have a close relation with a president that you could use to your advantage you don't have to pay him to show up. And if you have to pay him to show up how much of a real influence do you really have over him? How difficult is it to understand such a simple concept?
OJFord 3y ago
Yes you've done 'bribe', just not 'direct'. > How can't you see for what it truly is?? Essentially implies it isn't.
fragmede 3y ago
Why bother with the speaking? Just write it down as consulting and mail him a check. Or put him on the board and mail him a check. Or send him Venmo and say it's for "rent". There are tons of way to give someone money that doesn't involve them speaking. If it were about giving him the money, far less visible alternatives exist, so it's really about the speaking. Look, there's some amount of money that's you're willing to spend on hearing someone you want to listen to speak/perform. Assuming you've ever gone to a concert or a show, that's true, so the rest is down to details. Would you pay $1 to watch former President Obama speak? $2? What's the cost of a dollar to you? If you're willing to spend $2 to see former President Obama speak, why wouldn't your rich friend spend $2, or their friend $4? If someone's got enough money that they're willing to pay a million dollars to hear someone speak, it's more a reflection on how much money they have and how little it means to them than anything else. If I had a million dollars I'd spend it on other things but if I had a hundred million dollars, I'd totally spend a million to hear a former president speak, or have Taylor Swift play my birthday party. Rich people spend their money differently than poor people, or are you too poor to see that?

dr_dshiv 3y ago

https://www.thoughtco.com/former-presidents-speaking-fees-3368127 https://www.thoughtco.com/former-presidents-speaking-fees-33... I really doubt there is a quid pro quo here — “I’ll help you out now in exchange for paying me off after I’m done with the presidency” The value is like the value of any high-end brand — it makes one look powerful.

pi-e-sigma 3y ago
You are powerful because you _have to_ pay a _former_ president to be at your venue? It screams the opposite, actually. Because if you were really powerful you wouldn't need to pay for that. And it would be a sitting president, not the former one with no actual power anymore.
- phatfish 3y ago
  There is nothing special about most rich/powerful people (there are those that are genuinely exceptional of course and built a fortune because of that), they want the same things as "normal" people just on a different level. Why does some generic reality TV celebrity or "influencer" make money from showing up at a party or turning on some Xmas lights? Surely no one really cares, there are 1000s of reality TV stars. But, it turns out some people do care, so cookie-cutter reality TV celebrity gets paid to turn up. In "high net worth" (for want of a better term) social circles ex-Presidents are the reality TV celebrities, and the people who want them to turn up are rich, so they get paid a lot for the equivalent of turning on the Xmas lights. I suspect its not really about the speech, it's about having them in the same room and giving your guests the chance at a face-to-face meeting. Of course Obama may be more discerning with which events he attends, but the demand for people like him to turn up is certainly real.
  - pi-e-sigma 3y ago
    If you are handsome you don't need to pay chicks cash for them to shop up to the dinner. Analogously if you have a close relation with a president that you could use to your advantage you don't have to pay him to show up. And if you have to pay him to show up how much of a real influence do you really have over him? How difficult is it to understand such a simple concept?

OJFord 3y ago

Yes you've done 'bribe', just not 'direct'. > How can't you see for what it truly is?? Essentially implies it isn't.

fragmede 3y ago

Why bother with the speaking? Just write it down as consulting and mail him a check. Or put him on the board and mail him a check. Or send him Venmo and say it's for "rent". There are tons of way to give someone money that doesn't involve them speaking. If it were about giving him the money, far less visible alternatives exist, so it's really about the speaking. Look, there's some amount of money that's you're willing to spend on hearing someone you want to listen to speak/perform. Assuming you've ever gone to a concert or a show, that's true, so the rest is down to details. Would you pay $1 to watch former President Obama speak? $2? What's the cost of a dollar to you? If you're willing to spend $2 to see former President Obama speak, why wouldn't your rich friend spend $2, or their friend $4? If someone's got enough money that they're willing to pay a million dollars to hear someone speak, it's more a reflection on how much money they have and how little it means to them than anything else. If I had a million dollars I'd spend it on other things but if I had a hundred million dollars, I'd totally spend a million to hear a former president speak, or have Taylor Swift play my birthday party. Rich people spend their money differently than poor people, or are you too poor to see that?