To me it fells like certain people (a percentage of any population) are just wired to exploit human weakness.
Sometimes they are unconsciously doing it and when made conscious don't know how to exit that path. And society needs to make it simpler for exits to happen.
Those that are consciously doing it...well we are just stuck with them like we will always have bugs in code.
This is precisely why mechanisms like separation of powers and whistleblower protections matter. This is also why social conventions around honesty, reciprocity, fairness, etc. matter.
When these mechanisms and conventions operate smoothly, you get a sort of "security in depth" against abuse and exploitation. People acting in bad faith find their worst impulses thwarted, both by societal / legal systems and by average citizens who are empowered to help hold them to account.
When they don't, you get dangerous patterns of corruption and indifference; these weaken trust in the system, making it harder to fix over time.
A theory is that all humans do it in various nuanced situations whose categorizations are specific to each individual. Sometimes its as simple as getting in physical fights when you know you are stronger, or playing political games at work to get ahead. Sometimes its as nuanced as choosing to run an ad campaign to make people feel bad for being fat so they buy your product. Sometimes its negging, or sussing out if an employee might get pregnant soon, or choosing to make tests for ovarian cysts not covered by health insurance.