The weakness you refer to comes down to mistaking psychopathic behavior for leadership, imagination, genius, creativity. By the time the psychopath shows himself for what he is he has too often gathered a following, gotten rich by fleecing people and fraud, accumulated power, risen to a leadership position. We enable and tolerate such people because we hope for the best -- a real leader, a real humanitarian, a real creative genius.

I don't know how to reduce the list of parasites. I think we could start by enforcing consequences. Not just inconsequential fines, but serious jail time for fraud and other illegal behavior. We can stop overlooking the signs and giving these people a pass based on their lies and empty promises. That might not stop new parasites but it might let us stop them before they cause tremendous damage.