networking/connection to lawfirms, Politics, other bougie jobs like executives for companies.

It's the far right side of school life, where the frat is a hierarchical in-group. The pledges put up with it for access to the priviledges that come with being in the group and ones that go through with it have a mix of a) thinking it's paying their dues now to reap the benefits later, b) don't appreciate how much it might escalate until it does, and then have peer pressure and sunk cost fallacy driving them to continue, and c) the escalations might also excite them because if this is what they have to put up with to get in, if this is acceptable for senior members to subject junior members to, just imagine what the frat will let them get away with when they are full members or senior members. It's like the "it's ok for billionaires to treat my class like shit because I'm planning on joining them one day" mindset, except with an actual path to joining them soon.

There might also be some S&M aspects to it where some on the M side even enjoy it, though I can't really relate to that myself so it's only speculation.

What value does frat membership have

Networking? Lots of people in these orgs are good for job contacts.

It builds a cult like environment and makes people feel exclusive that they got through it

These days, ppl don't let strangers into their homes, many feel the need to join to literally have somewhere to go on weekends that isn't the dorms. Most dudes Ik in a frat dropped a year or two in once they knew enough ppl to go out on weekends and hangout at different houses without needing the frat. Most may not be accurate, a lot of people stay. Tbh I only got away with having fun drinking and partyhopppng because many of my friends were in frats and would let me in.

Also they get laid a lot just by being in a frat, the amount of woman I had act thirsty over me asking what frat I was in just to lose all interest when I said none is hilariously high. Obv not all women, but a good small amount does like fucking dudes just because they are in frats.

Throwing parties yourself or with your friends sucks, it gets dirty really fast, unless you have someone watching the door like frats do it gets packed with freshman who desttroy your home every time. Everytime I kicked people out of my own house for it randomly getting packed they broke something on the way out.

From what I've heard of hazing, it's realtively tame compared to what it used to be. They try to avoid getting banned off campus or are trying to come back on after being banned typically. Most fked up things I heard at my school was being chased in a forest with paintball guns and needing to chop a tree in teams (which got that frat banned since it was protected land)

Then there's hell week where they toss them in a basement and throw flour and oatmeal type sht (claiming its vomit) at them while telling them it's actually gonna be 2 weeks.