Whilst there are of course vulnerable individuals who fall prey, are captivated and consumed by conmen, I think that's making things too simply - it's both more truthful, more difficult and more worrying to say that these individuals have their own choice, and freedom to make it.
It's more comforting to think that people are kidnapped, brainwashed and forced to do and think things by evil men - it takes all responsibility from the equation - that people are in this case "seekers", that they choose to live in this way, that there are benefits in living that life. Cults can be good!
It's not helpful to believe this if you want to leave a cult of course! And its not helpful to believe that truth in the future when you look back at your time - better to think it was all wrong. To admit to yourself that you played a part in your membership and had enjoyed some or most is much harder than believing you had no choice. If I was in that situation, I would certainly choose to believe I was 100% a victim - it's healthier, better and logical for me to do so.
So actually thinking that these people are vulnerable, weak, had no choice, were made prey of, were captitvated, hypnotised and consumed by an evil conman is actually a psychologically easier and often better thing to do! (if not really factual or truthful)
It's not so much that I deny that these people had agency but rather that I think that the way the brain works makes charisma the single most important trait in terms of determining what a person can achieve. I am more annoyed by the victims and their poor choices than the conman himself, to be honest. Once charismatic people discover what they can do, the temptation to use those powers is simply too great to resist from their perspective.
As I said, I believe that I am vulnerable to these types myself, but I do not regard myself as having no choice. Instead, I am simply aware that some aspects of social interaction mean that charismatic people can exert a stronger influence on my choices than many other factors, and that I'm capable to make choices that seem logical under the influence of strong emotion but seem utterly stupid in retrospect. Once again, not denying agency but being cognizant of its limitations.
Wanting something doesn't imply benefitting from it, though. The world is full of things that try to exploit your wanting mechanism without providing benefit (or even enjoyment that matches the wanting). You can say that an individual's job is only wanting things that will be good for them, but that's an awfully hard job. Society should help with that, e.g. by teaching children to distrust dreams that promise too much.
It's more comforting to think that people are kidnapped, brainwashed and forced to do and think things by evil men - it takes all responsibility from the equation - that people are in this case "seekers", that they choose to live in this way, that there are benefits in living that life. Cults can be good!
It's not helpful to believe this if you want to leave a cult of course! And its not helpful to believe that truth in the future when you look back at your time - better to think it was all wrong. To admit to yourself that you played a part in your membership and had enjoyed some or most is much harder than believing you had no choice. If I was in that situation, I would certainly choose to believe I was 100% a victim - it's healthier, better and logical for me to do so.
So actually thinking that these people are vulnerable, weak, had no choice, were made prey of, were captitvated, hypnotised and consumed by an evil conman is actually a psychologically easier and often better thing to do! (if not really factual or truthful)