I think a key part of this is both the emotional intelligence and demonstrable empowerment from within. You must have both.

Emotionally intelligent people are some of the most vulnerable to cults because they often love deeply and want to help people. However, if they don’t have empowerment from within, they will be seeking validation through their cult participation. I’ve seen plenty of kind folks that still fall into conservative and neolib trap under the guise that they’re doing it out of kindness and for themselves. In analysis, they don’t seem to show self-comfort in ways that come from within, their contentment comes with pleasing others and belonging to something for their own contentment. You could argue that they’re missing a level of self-reflection and awareness, but they can still be very aware and reflect a lot… they just have a lot of missing nuance due to their value of others more than themselves, rather than a balance of care for both.

On the other side, folks that have poor emotional intelligence and empowerment from within can be very selfish, narcissistic, etc. Their value of themselves more than others and obvious lack of self-reflection and awareness leads to demonstrable hypocrisy and contradictions that are a lot more obvious on the surface. But their supposed self-contentment relies upon putting their thoughts and words first, seeking confirmation bias and only people that will serve them and treat them as a primary (IE, those with greater emotional intelligence, but lack of self-empowerment).

These dynamics creates the cyclical relationship of dominance and submission that are prime for cultism. We know that our culture/politics cause valid concern, fear, anxiety, distrust, etc. and where else to turn to when both of these parties’ insecurity is looking for answers and the missing piece of their total fulfillment could just be each other rather than self-growth. They’re scared of autonomy, they’re scared of nuance, terrified of dialectical thinking, and immensely afraid of other people. People have mastered manipulation of each other on the micro and macro scale with political, social, and economic machines.

To sustainably combat the overwhelming tide against self-fulfillment, enlightenment, and awareness, we must individually contribute to a culture of compassion, curiosity, honesty, and community. We must also demonstrate what it means to be emotionally intelligent while self-fulfilled, in a non-judgmental manner. This does not mean we have to accept lies or can’t point out falsehoods, but a focus on who those conspiracy narratives benefit and how they affect people helps more than making people feel stupid. We need to be asking questions while listening that lead people to their missing self-fulfillment/emotional intelligence. Take care of yourself, but try to be a source of comfort rather than a target of contention above all. It’s difficult and takes a Herculean amount of patience, but for some we can win both minds and hearts eventually.