The Victim Dictum

Some people never come clean
I think you know what I mean
--Eagles

I frequently read or hear that a certain individual or group of individuals has been 'used' by another individual or group.

In most cases, claims of being an innocent victim seem inaccurate. A distinguishing feature of humans is self-awareness. As individuals we have capacity for sensing our environment and the external forces that act on us. We then can choose to counter those forces or to 'go with the flow.'

It might be argued that some individuals' capacity for sensing environmental forces may be under-developed, thus they don't realize that they are being exploited. But living in such a state is also a choice.

As such, a more accurate description of the situation is that an individual or group let themselves be used by another. In many (most) cases, the victims are likely complicit in the victimization.