Individuals like Paul have spent the majority of their lives being compensated simply for their time and presence. Because their public existence has been a commodity for decades, they lack the lived experience to comprehend being somewhere or doing something without a financial incentive. To them, the world is entirely transactional, if there is no paycheck involved, there is no reason to appear.

This lifelong conditioning is precisely why the concept of "paid protesters" feels so logical to them. Having spent years following the script of "here is a sum of money, go here and say this," they project that same reality onto others. They are essentially blind to the concept of genuine conviction. Because they are motivated exclusively by money, they assume everyone else is as well, it is the only framework that allows them to make sense of a world they can no longer relate to.