The US government is now just a host body for a cordyceps-like parasite: the fossil fuel industry. It will backfire horribly.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-10-13/oil-and-gas-industry-takeover-of-the-white-house-will-backfire?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MDM1ODA2OSwiZXhwIjoxNzYwOTYyODY5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNDJJTTdHUFdDWFUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIxMkE1QzVFRUNERDg0NUJEQjVFOTM1MUE0Mzk4QTAxNCJ9.GFB6x6-d4-vp5j8uJxHXiyQ4hBLJkc5RRg3UKkGN6Sg

by simon_ritchie2000

5 comments

  1. From Bloomberg:

    “Fungus enthusiasts and fans of the video game/TV show *The Last of Us* will be familiar with cordyceps, a parasitic fungus that invades insects and forces them to do its bidding until they die. It’s a great deal for the cordyceps, which uses its hosts to expand its reach. For the insects, not so much.

    “The takeover of the US government by the fossil-fuel industry during the second Trump administration threatens to do similar harm to its host body.

    “President Donald Trump’s current government includes [43 former employees](https://www.citizen.org/article/trumps-polluter-playground/) of the industry, according to a study by the nonprofit advocacy groups Public Citizen and The Revolving Door Project. They’re joined by a dozen former members of think tanks funded by the industry, several lawyers who have represented it and dozens of former executives with other companies that contribute to greenhouse gases.”

  3. >**Cordyceps** is a genus of parasitic fungi known for infecting insects and other arthropods — though some species can also grow on plant matter. It’s most famous for the “zombie fungus” that takes over the bodies of insects, compelling them to climb to elevated spots before the fungus sprouts from their bodies to release spores.

    When hosted in people, like trump, elevated spots must mean high political office. It sounds like its about to get messy…

  4. Not just oil, large capital interests and tech companys. 

    I’m not sure we’ve ever had money men at this level of power, good to know that there screwing up in a lot of aspects, seems they’re still too self interested to work together properly. 

  5. I’m not sure whether to be grateful or angry when people deep in the capitalist machine, like writers for Bloomberg, realise that the economy is killing the world.

    The infuriating part is that they will write this one day, but if anyone suggests, maybe replacing the economic system that creates the incentives for the economy to kill the world, they lose their sh*t and tell you it’s a crazed/juvenile/dangerous idea the next day.

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